Advanced English: “She is to be...”, “He was to go...”

0:00 Today's lesson is a grammar lesson that a lot of people have been asking about,

0:04 so I thought this would be a very good topic for a video.

0:07 We're going to look at the situation where you're using a "be" verb,

0:11 "am", "is", "are", "was", "were", etc., plus an infinitive verb,

0:16 but especially a "be" verb plus a "be" verb,

0:20 so "am" to "be", "was" to "be", "were" to "be", etc.

0:23 But I'll show you that it doesn't have to be the "be" verb only,

0:27 but we can use it with...

0:28 So, you can have "am" to "be", "is" to "have", "was" to "take", and so on.

0:33 So, I'm going to...

0:33 Before I get into the examples, there are a couple of things that you

0:37 must realize when we're using this structure.

0:40 First of all, we're making a statement,

0:45 and we're talking about the future, but not always.

0:56 Sorry, I'm going to do small.

0:58 When we're using a present "be" verb first, we're talking about future plans,

1:04 so that's where it gets a little bit confusing.

1:06 You have to remember that.

1:07 It's always about future plans or arrangements,

1:20 or to give instructions or orders.

1:31 For example, a boss would give orders to his employees, to his staff.

1:36 So, when we're using the present verb, we're talking about the future.

1:40 When we're using the past verb, it's a different situation,

1:42 and I'll show you examples of that in a moment.

1:44 So, "Linda is to be transferred to the New York office next week." So,

1:52 I'm making a statement.

1:53 This is what is going to happen.

1:55 She is going to be transferred.

1:57 But instead of saying "she is going to be", I can just say "she is to be".

2:01 It's a little bit more formal, a little bit more emphatic,

2:04 like it has a bit of more emphasis because it's a very strong statement,

2:08 and that's why you have to remember it's a statement.

2:11 I'm not asking, I'm not suggesting,

2:12 I'm saying exactly what's going to happen, right?

2:16 So, "She is to take over the sales department." That is the plan.

2:20 So, this could be like an order, this could be like a plan,

2:23 but either way, it's a statement about the future.

2:26 Now, notice here that I'm using the "be" verb as part of a passive.

2:31 "She is to be transferred by me", the boss, right?

2:34 But "She is to go to the New York office", that's fine, too.

2:40 Both are okay.

2:41 Different connotation, different suggestion of what the order is.

2:46 "Jim", but here's where you'll see the difference.

2:49 "Jim, you are to be in charge until I get back." So,

2:52 we can also use a "be" with a passive or just with a situation,

2:56 just like a regular...

2:58 Any other regular situation where you're using a "be" verb.

3:02 But, if I say, "Jim, you are in charge until I get back." "Jim,

3:10 you are to be in charge until I get back." What's the difference?

3:14 If I use "without to be", it means right now.

3:18 "Jim, you are in charge now.

3:20 I'm going out." "Jim, you are to be in charge." So,

3:24 next week, I will go to California for a business trip.

3:28 While I'm gone, "Jim, you are going to be in charge." "Jim,

3:32 you are to be in charge", right?

3:34 So, that's very, very important to understand.

3:37 Future, present, with "to be" or without "to be".

3:41 Okay, so now we're going to look at the past situation,

3:44 which is very different, and you have to somehow understand what is happening.

3:50 "Sophie was to deliver the keynote speech at the conference." So,

3:54 again, there was a plan.

3:59 She was supposed to.

4:05 And this is a key word you have to remember, "supposed to".

4:07 Something was supposed to happen.

4:09 Something should have happened, but it didn't.

4:14 And that's the key to this situation.

4:22 "Unrealized" or the "unknown results".

4:32 So, two things can happen here.

4:37 Sorry.

4:38 One, what was supposed to happen, what was planned, didn't happen,

4:43 or what was planned, we're not sure if it happened or not.

4:48 That's the key to using past "be" verb, "was", "were", plus an infinitive.

4:55 So, "Sophie was to deliver the keynote speech", but did she?

4:59 I don't know.

5:00 Or, something happened, there was a bit of a mix-up,

5:02 and she wasn't able to get onto the stage to give the speech.

5:05 By the way, if you're curious, "keynote speech",

5:08 that's the main speech, the highlight speech of the conference.

5:12 "The troops were to be withdrawn from the border." Now,

5:15 usually when you have a sentence using "were to be", "was to be",

5:19 etc., or "was to", whatever verb, usually you will have a "but" clause,

5:25 or a second sentence explaining why it didn't happen.

5:30 "The troops were to be withdrawn", and again,

5:33 I'm using a passive here, "from the border,

5:35 but the general changed his mind and sent them forward instead." So,

5:41 going back to that one I looked at a second ago,

5:45 "Jim was to be in charge, but none of the staff listened to him." Now, if,

5:51 again, I take it out, "Jim was in charge",

5:56 this is a very straightforward past situation.

6:01 It happened, he was in charge, and he did a very good job.

6:04 Or, "but none of the staff listened to what he said." It doesn't matter,

6:10 he was in charge, officially, but nobody listened to him.

6:14 Or, he was in charge, and he did a good job.

6:17 So, what comes after can be anything, but as soon as you add the "to be",

6:23 right away you have an unrealized situation, it didn't happen, so,

6:28 "Jim was to be in charge",

6:30 you can only follow it with a "but" to show the contrast,

6:34 to show why he actually was not in charge.

6:38 Okay?

6:39 So, it's actually a very simple structure, "be" plus infinitive.

6:43 If you remember, present "be", future "plan", past "be", unrealized "plan",

6:49 and that's the only thing that you need to know.

6:52 And again, a little bit more formal use,

6:54 there are other ways to express all of these ideas,

6:57 but if you want to emphasize something,

6:59 or be a little bit more formal, especially in writing,

7:02 then you can do that, you can use this.

7:05 In spoken, not so much, not as commonly used or heard.

7:09 Okay?

7:10 Now, you can go to www.EngVid.com and take the quiz,

7:12 make sure you understand how to use this structure,

7:15 and understand the context of the sentence,

7:19 and don't forget to ask questions if you have any.

7:22 And if you like the video, give me a like, subscribe to my channel,

7:26 and come back soon for more grammar, vocab, other types of interesting lessons.

7:32 See you then.

7:32 Bye bye.