To be, to have & to do
Are the verbs to be, to have and to do the most important verbs in the English language?
To be
To be is basically the backbone of the English language: it handles existence, identity, states, and the vast majority of passive sentences. Without it, you couldn’t say things like:
“I am tired”.
“This is mine”.
“She was here”.
To be is a linking verb – basically, it ‘links’ the subject to more info about it (we will cover this in more detail in a later post when we talk about phrases). But it’s not just the backbone, you could also think of it as the glue:
#Note
You will most often hear the verb to be referred to as a ‘copula verb’ or a ‘copular verb’. The word copula / copular (same meaning, different spelling) comes from the Latin copula which is just a fancy word for ‘link’, ‘tie’ or ‘bond’, as mentioned above.
Example
“She is happy”
“This was a mistake”
In the examples above, the verb ‘be’ connects ‘she’ to ‘happy’, and ‘this’ to ‘a mistake’. It’s not just essential in forming the continuous tense — it also describes what something is (or isn’t).
It also doubles as an auxiliary verb for the passive voice:
Example
“The cake was eaten”.
“The glass was broken”.
“The mail was delivered”.
To have
This covers possession, relationships, and perfect tenses.
Example
“I’ve got it”.
“He has been waiting”.
“They’ll have finished by then”.
It’s essential; lose it and half your grammar collapses. It’s kind of two things at once. First off, it’s a main verb when it means possession.
Example
“I have a bike”.
“We have time”.
“She has blue eyes”.
“They have a car”.
But then it flips to auxiliary mode for perfect tenses.
“I have eaten”.
“You had already left by then”.
“We will have finished by then”.
In the examples above, it’s just helping the real verb (‘eaten’, ‘left’, ‘finished’) to show when something happened.
#Fun note
The word ‘auxiliary’ comes straight from the Latin auxilliāris, meaning ‘helping’ or ‘supporting’. So when we call a verb ‘auxiliary’, we’re just saying it’s there to lend a helping-hand. like backup singers in a band – it’s their job to support the lead.
To do
This is the workhorse. It carries questions, emphasis and negatives – just like to be and to have does (which I will explain in a later post when we cover sentence structure).
Example
“Do you want something?”. (Question)
“I do care!”. (Emphasis)
“I don’t know”. (Negative)
It swaps in when other verbs need help. It’s like the English language’s Swiss Army knife.
To do is basically the Swiss Army knife of verbs. When it’s a main verb, it means ‘to perform’. or ‘to carry out’.
Example
“I do my homework”.
“What are you doing?”.
“She did it!”.
But most of the time, it’s auxiliary (helping) – like ‘to be’ and ‘to have’. It jumps in for questions, negatives, emphasis as mentioned earlier, and also for tags (which we will also cover in a later post when we get into sentence structure).
Example
“Do you like it?”. (Question)
“I don’t think so”. (Negative)
“I do love pizza”. (Emphasis)
“You like it, don’t you?”. (Tag)
If I had to recommend three verbs that you would take with you to a deserted island, it would be these three. You’d get along just fine with them (not that you’d need them, because the island is deserted).
