The verb be is one of the most important verbs in the English language. We use this verb when we talk about personal information, when we talk about others, when we talk about things in the world, etc. So, if you are an English as an additional language learner you need to know the verb to be in the present simple. Take a look at some sentences using different affirmative forms of the verb be below:
| My name is Mathew |
| I am a student |
| You are a doctor |
| My father is an engineer |
| We are from France |
| My parents are lovely |
Authentic examples are:
- ‘I am just a normal person,’ Macao’s deaf legendary triathlete to challenge fate at Natl Games once again (Global Times)
- Make sure you are registered to vote in the local government elections (Roodepoort Record)
- ‘He is a busy man’: Imran Khan on no phone call from Joe Biden (The Times of India)
- Emma Raducanu beams as she is reunited with her dad at Kent homecoming (KentLive)
- ‘It is crucial to be breast aware’ – Cancer survivors warn other women (Offaly Express)
- Oprah Winfrey shares her concerns about where we are as a country (CNN)
- Why do humans cry when they are sad? (The Guardian)
As you can see, when we use the verb be in affirmative sentences it can be in three different forms: am, are, and is. Each form is used with a specific personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they). The combinations (and their contractions) are:
| PRONOUN | FORM OF BE | CONTRACTION (INFORMAL) |
| I | am | I‘m |
| You (singular) | are | You‘re |
| He | is | He‘s |
| She | is | She‘s |
| It | is | It‘s |
| We | are | We‘re |
| You (plural) | are | You‘re |
| They | are | They‘re |
Notice that we can replace some pronouns with other words, for example, names of people or just names of things in general:
- My father [he] is a very nice person.
- My sister [she] is older than me.
- Anne and I [we] are very good friends.
- Emily and Mike [they] are teachers.
- My dog [it] is very small.
Now that you know the affirmative forms of the verb be, let’s take a look at its negative forms:
| PRONOUN | FORM OF BE | NEGATION | CONTRACTION (INFORMAL) |
| I | am | not | I‘m not |
| You (singular) | are | not | You‘re not OR You aren’t |
| He | is | not | He‘s not OR He isn’t |
| She | is | not | She‘s not OR She isn’t |
| It | is | not | It‘s not OR It isn’t |
| We | are | not | We‘re not OR We aren’t |
| You (plural) | are | not | You‘re not OR You aren’t |
| They | are | not | They‘re not OR They aren’t |
As you can see, to form the negative form of the verb be you simply add the word not in front of the verb. However, the full forms am not, are not, is not are more common in writing, when people speak, they usually contract these words. Examples of the contracted, negative forms of the verb be are:
- I’m not a reporter.
- You’re not 16 years old OR You aren’t 16 years old. (singular)
- He’s not my relative OR He isn’t my relative.
- She’s not a lawyer OR She isn’t a lawyer.
- It’s not black OR It isn’t black.
- We’re not from Japan OR We aren’t from Japan.
- You’re not late for the meeting OR You aren’t late for the meeting. (plural)
- They’re not my friends OR They aren’t my friends.
Authentic examples are:
- ‘I’m not anti-vax’: Experts explain why people who haven’t been inoculated against COVID-19 are clarifying their decisions (Yahoo! news)
- Will Your Health or Life Insurance Rates Increase If You’re Not Vaccinated? (life hacker)
- Tarot cards aren’t demonic; you just watch too many Halloween movies (Baylor Lariat)
- Thomas Kurian shows he’s not afraid to bench long-timers at Google Cloud as he pursues growth (CNBC)
- MICHAEL CHANDLER WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW HE ISN’T AN ‘ANTI-VAXXER’ (MMA Weekly)
- Megan Fox Explains Why She’s Not Interested In Dressing Conservatively After See-Through VMA Dress (Cinema Blend)
- This social media influencer makes millions, has 75k followers and she isn’t even real (CNBC)
- It’s not all about populism: grassroots democracy is thriving across Europe (The Guardian)
- Democracy — what it is and what it isn’t (Hudson Valley 360)
- ‘We’re not easy targets anymore’: Caregivers rally at the Capitol (The State News)
- Bill Gates Says We Aren’t Ready for the Next Pandemic (The Wall Street Journal)
- COVID-19: ‘They’re not strangers’ – Javid defends maskless cabinet meeting after government advised their use (Sky News)
- Tysons high-rise condos set record prices — and they aren’t even built yet (wtop)
Now, let’s understand how the interrogative form works.
The interrogative form of the verb be is used when we want to ask a question. This means that we use it when we want some information or maybe just want to confirm something. Do not forget that at the end of a direct question we always use a question mark (?).
| FORM OF BE | PRONOUN | COMPLEMENT |
| Am | I | …? |
| Are | you | …? |
| Is | he | …? |
| Is | she | …? |
| Is | it | …? |
| Are | we | …? |
| Are | you (plural) | …? |
| Are | they | …? |
Some examples are:
- Am I a nice person?
- Are you interested in Arts? (singular)
- Is he your father?
- Is she your mother?
- Is it your car?
- Are we in the same class?
- Are you Mr. Clark’s students? (plural)
- Are they your relatives?
Authentic examples are:
- Dear Doctor: At 99, am I too old to get the COVID-19 vaccine? (Oregon Live)
- Are you a toxic enabler? (Times Higher Education)
- Extra Points: Is He Right? (WTMJ)
- Gabby Petito: Who is she and what do we know about her disappearance? (Indy100)
- Is it time for the Bank of England to start tightening monetary policy? (Financial Times)
- Are we in the midst of a real estate bubble? At event, developers disagree (Wral Tech Wire)
- Vaccine passports are coming. But are they ethical? (The Conversation)
As you can see, to use the interrogative forms of be to ask questions, we only need to change the order of personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) and the verb be (am, is, or are). In affirmative sentences, we use personal pronoun + verb; in interrogative, sentences we use verb + personal pronoun.
Studying the verb be is very important because it is used all the time when we speak English. It also supports you in learning more advanced structures in the future. If necessary, reread this article until you feel you understand it perfectly.
That’s it! It is very simple, isn’t it? Keep in touch to read our next article about the verb be. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments section below.
If you want to master every aspect of English grammar, take a look at our awesome article on the best books to learn English grammar.
