“I’ve only learned the verb to be” is probably what I’ve heard the most during my teaching career. And you know what? I have no idea how to use it until I was 25. I can tell you that I have a vivid memory of an English exam at school that said “complete with the verb to be” and I completed it like this:
My English teacher at school, Letizia, was excellent, but I wasn’t a smart student. Or maybe the way we learned the verb to be at school didn’t show the real importance of it at that time.
The truth is that we use the verb “to be” all the time and, if we compare how it is used in English with how it is used in Spanish or Portuguese, we can see that is pretty simple.
I’ll give you some information about me to show you.
Laura – 36 years old – Brazil – Argentina – English Teacher – Russian – White and red
You can infer a lot about me only by reading those words, but let’s take look at them in context:
My name is Laura, and I’m 36 years old. I’m from Brazil, but I have been living in Argentina since 2017. I’m an English teacher, and at the moment I’m learning Russian. My favourite colours are red and white.
You could know much more about me thanks to the verb to be, right? We will bump into it at all levels, from Beginner to Advanced, in a notional, auxiliary or linking function. It’s just inevitable. The most important thing is to always put it in a context that is relevant to you.
Here is a short video with a few examples:
Expert Lenguas 