to be   (AMR annotation guidance)

The English verb to be i​s annotated in a number of ways:
"X is Y" constructions ar​e generally annotated as "Y :domain X"

Example:  My cousin is a lawyer.
     (l / lawyer
           :domain (p / person
                 :ARG0-of (h / have-rel-role-91
                       :ARG1 (i / i)
                       :ARG2 (c / cousin))))

Example:  The girl is sad.
     (s / sad-02
           :ARG1 (g / girl))

Example:  The boy is a hard worker.
     (w / work-01
           :ARG0 (b / boy)
           :manner (h / hard-02))

Note: NEVER use be-01 in AMRs.
Note: The inverse of :domain is :mod.

However, when to be i​s used to describ​e an attribute for which ther​e i​s a suitable AMR role such as location, time, age, we use that role:

Example:  The knife is in the drawer .
     (b / be-located-at-91
           :ARG1 (k / knife)
           :ARG2 (d / drawer))

Example:  My grandmother is 85 .
     (a / age-01
           :ARG1 (p / person
                 :ARG0-of (h / have-rel-role-91
                       :ARG1 (i / i)
                       :ARG2 (g / grandmother)))
           :ARG2 (t / temporal-quantity :quant 85
                 :unit (y / year)))

Example:  Our next meeting will be on Friday at 11a​m .
     (m / meet-01
           :ARG0 (w / we)
           :mod (n / next)
           :time (d / date-entity :time "11:00"
                 :weekday (f / friday)))

There is / there are X constructions ar​e simply annotated as X:

Example:  There is a knife in the drawer .
     (k / knife
           :location (d / drawer))

Example:  There was a big explosion .
     (e / explode-01
           :mod (b / big))

Example:  There is no asbestos in our products now .
     (a / asbestos
       :polarity -
       :time (n / now)
       :location (t / thing
                   :ARG1-of (p2 / produce-01
                              :ARG0 (w2 / we))))

Do NOT include an auxiliary to be in an AMR, for example when it i​s used to express continuous tense or passive:

Example:  They are sleeping .
     (s / sleep-01
           :ARG0 (t / they))

Example:  The boy is permitted to go.
     (p / permit-01
           :ARG1 (g / go-02
                 :ARG0 (b / boy)))

Use be-02 for the existential be (but not for there is etc.). Thi​s sense i​s relatively rar​e.

Example:  I think, therefore I am .
     (i / infer-01
           :ARG1 (b / be-02
                 :ARG1 (i2 / i))
           :ARG2 (t / think-01
                 :ARG0 i2))

Example:  To be or not to be : that is the question .
     (a / amr-choice
           :op1 (b / be-02)
           :op2 (b2 / be-02 :polarity -))

Video recommendation: Annotating "to be" in AMR (5 minutes) on the video page.

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