BE动词在英语中广泛使用，有多种时态。现在时态中，第一人称单数形式是"am"，复数形式是"are"；第二人称和第三人称复数形式都是"are"，第三人称单数形式是"is"。过去时态中，第一人称和第三人称单数形式是"was"，复数形式是"were"；第二人称单数和复数形式都是"were"。现在完成时态和过去完成时态中，所有人称的单数和复数形式都是"have been"和"had been"。
现在时态
| 人称 | 单数形式 | 复数形式 | | --- | --- | --- | | 第一人称 | am | are | | 第二人称 | are | are | | 第三人称 | is | are |
例如：
- I am a student.
- You are a teacher.
- He is a doctor.
- We are friends.
- They are colleagues.
过去时态
| 人称 | 单数形式 | 复数形式 | | --- | --- | --- | | 第一人称 | was | were | | 第二人称 | were | were | | 第三人称 | was | were |
例如：
- I was at home yesterday.
- You were late for the meeting.
- He was very busy last week.
- We were on vacation last month.
- They were happy to see us.
现在完成时态
| 人称 | 单数形式 | 复数形式 | | --- | --- | --- | | 第一人称 | have been | have been | | 第二人称 | have been | have been | | 第三人称 | has been | have been |
例如：
- I have been to Paris twice.
- You have been working here for three years.
- He has been studying English for six months.
- We have been waiting for an hour.
- They have been enjoying their vacation.
过去完成时态
| 人称 | 单数形式 | 复数形式 | | --- | --- | --- | | 第一人称 | had been | had been | | 第二人称 | had been | had been | | 第三人称 | had been | had been |
例如：
- I had been living in New York for five years before I moved to Los Angeles.
- You had been working hard before the project was canceled.
- He had been studying Chinese for two years when he went to China.
- We had been waiting for the train for two hours when it finally arrived.
- They had been planning the party for weeks before the date.
