Regarding "be" verb grammar ?

Question

Sentence: My friend says "Twitter mania is dead" in reply to him I said "How can it be dead it's a horse of long race"

My question/doubt: My question is regarding "be" verb. Have I used the "be" verb rightly in my reply ? Though I've said the sentence but I'm bit unsure I had used the "be" verb rightly or not in my reply. So need your help/confirmation regarding it. If I'm wrong then please tell me the correct form.

Thanks

Rafaelinrio · Accepted Answer

hey buddy, yep you got it right.
What made you think you mighta used it wrong?

Joe2012 · Answer

Thanks chum for your reply. Apropos "what made you think you mighta used it wrong?" Perhaps because of weak understanding of fundamentals of English ?, Could be because of lack of confidence, because of lack of grasp of english language. Any one of them or perhpas all could be the reason.

Thanks once again.

English 1b3 · Answer

'can' is a modal verb which requires the bare infinitive (base form of a verb without the particle 'to').

The bare infinitive of the verb to be, is 'be'.

He is cool.

He can be cool.

Because of the modal, the verb is in the bare infinitive form, not the finite form, present simple.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I said "How can it be dead it's a horse of long race"

I said "How can it be dead? It's a horse of long race."

I've never heard the idiom, It's a horse of long race." It's not a natural thing to say.

Clive

Regarding "be" verb grammar ?

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