Grammar Question IS/are, Was/were, Has/have?

Question

Can someone please Explain the difference between these verbs.
IS/ARE
WAS/WERE
HAS/HAVE
** my teacher can't seem to explain when these verbs are supposed to be used , and i keep failing because of it!!**

Answer 1

Although I'm a teacher, I hope I can explain it to you.
Here it goes.

IS/ARE are forms of the same verb, the verb 'be'. Just try to remember that 'is' is used with the 3rd person in the singular(i.e. he/she/it).
e.g. He/She is a teacher. The boy(i.e. he) is 3 years old.
'Are' is used in the plural.
e.g. they are clever. My friends are at a party

The same rules apply to 'has/have'.
He/she/it has
I/we/you/they have
e.g. John(i.e. he) has a new car.
We have two cars.
BUT, be careful! In questions and negative sentences, you must always use 'have' That is when 'have' is in the present simple and when it's not an auxiliary verb (for the Present Perfect).
e.g. I don't have a car.
He doesn't have a car.
BUT: He has had this car for 2 years. (present perfect)

As for 'was/were' we say:
I/we/you/they were
He/She/It was
e.g. Maria and I were in Paris.
Sam (he) was in my class.

I hope it wasn't more confusing!

Answer 2

verb 'to be' (present)
I am
you are
he/she/it is
we are
you are
they are

verb 'to be' (past)
I was
you were
he/she/it was
we were
you were
they were

verb 'to have' (present)
I have
you have
he/she/it has
we have
you have
they have

That's all.

Answer 3

Quick reference chart:

I am
S/He is
We are
You are
They are

I was
S/He was
We were
You were
They were

I have
S/He has
We have
You have
They have

Answer 4

'is' / 'are'
"The book is on the table" - singular
"He is sitting at the table." - (3rd person singular)
"The books are on the table - plural
"They are sitting at the table" - (3rd person plural)

'was' / 'were' - past singular 1st person 'was', 2nd 'were'

"The date was fixed" - singular
"The dates were fixed - plural

'has' / 'have' present singular 1st person 'have', 3rd 'has'

"He has a kind boss." present singular
"They have a kind boss." - plural

Try to remember this
"One 'is', Two 'are'
"Present 'was', Past 'were'
"One, 'has' but Two 'have'

Hope this helps you a little. :-)

Answer 5

i can try...hope this will help

She IS happy [present]
they ARE happy [present (for more than one person)
they WERE happy [past]
She WAS happy [past]
she HAS had happy thoughts before [past]
does she HAVE happy thoughts? [present]