ABSTRACT
The verb be makes further distinctions in the present and introduces distinctions in the past. These are:
present tense singular plural 1st person am 2nd person are are 3rd person is
past tense singular plural 1st person was 2nd person were were 3rd person was
The distinctions for third person agreement with be are illustrated in [3] and [4] for the present and in [5] and [6] for the past:
[3] The noise is distracting them. [4] The noises are distracting them. [5] The noise was distracting them.
