The article analyzes the peculiarities of translation of structures with the Intentional Semantic Shift in the verb ‘to be' from the English to the Russian languages. The deliberate use of the verb ‘to be' in alien Grammatical context may result in expressiveness and ambiguity, such sentences being examples of ‘Grammatical Metaphor'. The analysis of works by modern writers in the English language reveals the Intentional Semantic Shift in the verb ‘to be' based on both formal and covert Grammatical categories (Simple - Continuous tenses; location in space - temporal meaning; state (existence) - action (behaviour). However, translation into the Russian language often fails to convey the expressiveness and ambiguity of such structures, as the translators avoid using grammatically incorrect structures. In some cases, the meaning of the original may be distorted.