When building a sentence in English, a verb is always required. The verb “be” is the most important verb to learn in English. ‘’TO BE’’ is used to describe objects, features, locations, etc.
The verb ‘’ TO BE ‘’has three forms in the present; am, is and are;
| Subject To Be | Examples |
|---|---|
| I am | I am fine |
| You are | You are a student |
| He is | He is a child |
| She is | She is an angry girl |
| It is | It is a beautiful flower |
| We are | We are brothers |
| You are | You are from England |
| They are | They are at school |
Using the verb ‘to be’ in the simple present tense;
POSITIVE ( AFFIRMATIVE ) FORM (+) : Subject + TO BE ( am / is / are ) + …
NEGATIVE FORM (-) : Subject + TO BE ( am / is / are) + NOT + …
QUESTION FORM (?) : TO BE ( am / is / are) + Subject + …
NEGATIVE QUESTION FORM (?) : TO BE ( am / is / are) + NOT + Subject + …
SHORT ANSWER FORMS : ( + / – ) : YES / NO + Subject + TO BE ( am / is / are) or TO BE ( am / is / are) + NOT
POSITIVE SENTENCES AND CONTRACTIONS WITH TO BE
| SUBJECT | TO BE | POSITIVE (+) | POSITIVE CONTRACTIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | am | I am ready | I’m ready |
| You | are | You are ready. | You’re ready. |
| He | is | He is ready. | He’s ready. |
| She | is | She is ready. | She’s ready. |
| It | is | It is ready. | It’s ready. |
| We | are | We are ready. | We’re ready |
| You | are | You are ready. | You're ready. |
| They | are | They are ready. | They're ready. |
Note: ” ‘m, ‘s, ‘re ” are short (contracted) forms of ‘’am, is, are’’
Examples:
- I am a secretary. / I’m a secretary.
- She is clever. / She’s clever.
- We are businessmen. / We’re businessmen.
- They are in the park. / They’re in the park.
- It is on the table. / It’s on the table.
NEGATIVE SENTENCES AND CONTRACTIONS WITH TO BE
| SUBJECT | TO BE | NEGATIVE(+) |
|---|---|---|
| I | am not | I am not ready |
| You | are not | You are not ready. |
| He | is not | He is not ready. |
| She | is not | She is not ready. |
| It | is not | It is not ready. |
| We | are not | We are not ready. |
| You | are not | You are not ready. |
| They | are not | They are not ready. |
| NEGATIVE CONTRACTIONS (SUBJECT + TO BE) | NEGATIVE CONTRACTIONS ( TO BE + NOT ) |
|---|---|
| I am ( I’m ) not ready. | I am not ( am not ) ready. |
| You are ( You’re ) not ready. | You are not (aren’t ) ready. |
| He is / He’s not ready. | He isn’t ready. |
| She is / She’s not ready. | She isn’t ready. |
| It is / It’s not ready. | It isn’t ready. |
| We are / We’re not ready. | You aren’t ready. |
| You are / You’re not ready. | We aren’t ready. |
| They are / They’re not ready. | They aren’t ready. |
Notes:
1. To make the positive ( affirmative ) sentences negative, put ‘ not’ after the verbs.
Examples:
- I am not intelligent.
- She is not a doctor.
- We are not married.
2. Sentences made by ‘ am/ is /are ‘ as auxiliary verbs have two negative contractions;
a. First contraction is made with subject and the verb.
Examples:
- I am ( I’m ) not a pilot.
- You are ( You’re ) not children.
- He is ( He’s) not a fireman.
b. Second contraction is made with the verb and ‘not’.
Examples:
- She is not (isn’t) a beautiful woman.
- We are not ( aren’t ) at home.
- They are not (aren’t ) from Canada.
3. As you can see from the chart, we can not make contraction with the verb ‘am’ and not
Examples:
- I am not a teacher.
We can not make a contraction like this ‘am +not = amn’t’ instead of this, we use first contraction made with subject and verb ‘ I + am = I’am) namely,
- I am not a teacher = I’m not a teacher
- I am not happy. / I’m not happy.
- I am not in the garden. / I’m not in the garden.
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE QUESTIONS WITH TO BE
| POSITIVE QUESTION (?) | NEGATIVE QUESTION (?) |
|---|---|
| Am I ready? | Am I not ready? |
| Are you ready? | Aren’t you ready? |
| Is he ready? | Isn’t he ready? |
| Is she ready? | Isn’t she ready? |
| Is it ready? | Isn’t it ready? |
| Are we ready? | Aren’t we ready? |
| Are you ready? | Aren’t you ready? |
| Are they ready? | Aren’t they ready? |
Note:
To make question sentences from positive or negative sentences, put verb or ‘verb + not‘ before the subject. If you want to make negative questions, you can use the contractions.
Examples:
- Am I crazy?
- Is she a doctor?
- Are you from Spain?
- Are they marry?
- Isn’t it on the desk?
- Aren’t you friends?
Exception to the rule:
If you want to build a negative question using the verb ‘ am ‘, put the verb first, and then subject and ‘not’.
AM + SUBJECT PRONOUNS + NOT + …
Examples:
- Am I not sick?
- Am I not tired?
- Am I not ready?
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SHORT ANSWERS WITH TO BE
| POSITIVE SHORT ANSWER | NEGATIVE SHORT ANSWER |
|---|---|
| Yes, I am | No, I’m not |
| Yes, you are | No, you aren’t |
| Yes, he is | No, he isn’t |
| Yes, she is | No, she isn’t |
| Yes, it is | No, it isn’t |
| Yes, we are | No, we aren’t |
| Yes, you are | No, you aren’t |
| Yes, they are | No, they aren’t |
Examples:
- Are you sure? – Yes, I am or No, I am not
- Is he late? – yes, he is late or No, he is not late
- Aren’t they good at math? Yes, they are or No, they aren’t
- Aren’t you sick? Yes, I am— No, I am not
- Is it a cat ? yes, it is — no it isn’t
- Is she ill? Yes she il lor No she isn’t
Notes:
1. We don’t use contractions in positive short answers
Examples:
- Yes, I am ( we do not use I’m)
- Yes,you are ( we do not use you’re)
- Yes, he is ( we do not use he’s)
2. Do not forget to pay attention to use of some subject pronouns ( such as I, You ) while answering questions.
Examples:
- Am I sick?
- Yes, you are / No you aren’t
- Are you at home?
- Yes, I am / No, I am not
3. We can also use a question word (Who, What, Why etc.) with to be in present tense.
Question Words (who, what, why, etc.) + TO BE ( am/is/are ) + subject + …
Examples:
- Why are you late every day?
- Who is she?
- Where are they from?
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It’s very helpful.Can you please provide all the tenses in detail. I just found simple present tense.
Thank you for your lovely comment.
We are trying to increase the contents quickly.
There are 3 tenses in our site. Continue to follow.
Simple Present Tense With To be
Simple Present Tense
Simple Past Tense With To be/
Simple Past Tense
Present Continuous Tense/
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