"To be" verbs

Question

Does anyone know if the verb following a "to be" verb can take a past tense without the sentence being in a passive construction?

a sentence that is structure like: was/were (+) -ed/-en

I am interest in figuring out if the "to be" verbs are like the perfect tense where the past participle follows have/has/had.

Furthermore: How about verbs that comes after the do/does/did? Does the verb that follow these helping verbs (do/does/did) change tense, is it only do/does/did change tense form?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

I think you have your concepts confused, and that's why you may be confused.

phxsunstoonDoes anyone know if the verb following a "to be" verb can take a past tense without the sentence being in a passive construction?a sentence that is structure like: was/were (+) -ed/-en

Passives are formed with 'be' + -ed participle (not a past tense verb). There are also pseudo-passives (His office is located in San Francisco) and stative passives (I am tired).

phxsunstoonI am interest in figuring out if the "to be" verbs are like the perfect tense where the past participle follows have/has/had.

Yes, they both use the -ed participle.

phxsunstoonHow about verbs that comes after the do/does/did? Does the verb that follow these helping verbs (do/does/did) change tense, is it only do/does/did change tense form?

Verbs after do/does/did are in non-finite form: they are bare infinitives and do not change.

Phxsunstoon · Answer

Thanks Mister Micawber for replying.

Mister MicawberI think you have your concepts confused, and that's why you may be confused. phxsunstoon Does anyone know if the verb following a "to be" verb can take a past tense without the sentence being in a passive construction?a sentence that is structure like: was/were (+) -ed/-enPassives are formed with 'be' + -ed participle (not a past tense verb). There are also pseudo-passives (His office is located in San Francisco) and stative passives (I am tired).

I was trying to figure out a way to ask that question. Sorry if I didn't phrase it correct.

What I am trying to figure out if the "to be" verbs like was/were when used in a sentence that is already in past tense construction (this may not come out how I am thinking in my head) and the verb following the "to be," does it take a present form or participle form?

Can an active construction have a sentence where it uses was/were and another following directly after was/were be in the present form?

Can you write a sentence following these rules:
1. Sentence is in past tense. (has already happen)
2. Sentence is in active construction. (no passive at all)
3. Use a "to be" verb. (preferably was or were or something similar)
4. The verb following the "to be" verb is in the present form. (not taking a past participle form)
5. The verb following "to be" verbs is not in progressive form. (no sentence that is structured like "he was going to the movie")

So basically I am trying to figure out if it's possible to form a sentence that looks like: Subject (+) was/were (+) base verb form or base (+) -s/es

Mister Micawber · Answer

phxsunstoonCan you write a sentence following these rules:

Please try to write such things yourself and then we'll check them.

Phxsunstoon · Answer

I don't think it is possible, but I don't know for sure. I don't want to say that it would be grammatically incorrect to do so just because I think of an example.

"To be" verbs

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