The verb zijn is used in more different ways than any other verb. As an [independent verb](#/lesson/Verbs.Au02), it functions as the [link verb](#/lesson/WordOrder.32) 'to be'. Further, it is often used as the [auxiliary verb before a past participle](#/lesson/Verbs.Au05).
Simple present:
ik | ben | we | zijn
je | bent | jullie | zijn
hij | is | ze | zijn
Simple past:
ik | was | we | waren
je | was | jullie | waren
hij | was | ze | waren
Past participle: geweest
Note that the examples above give you the unstressed [personal pronouns](#/lesson/Pronouns.Ps01). Some pronouns change when they are stressed in a phrase: je/jij, we/wij, ze/zij (both singular and plural).