The Verb To Be

Be -  Present Tense

Use

Use be with:

Names Hello, I’m John.
Age How old are you?
I’m 17.
Places London is in England.  
The Pyramids are in Egypt. 
The bank is one kilometre from here.
Adjectives This hotel is nice. 
I’m hungry. 
Jobs and family I’m a student.
My parents are doctors.
This is my sister.
Ann and Tom are my children.
Other Nouns Jess is a dog.
‘Hamlet’ is a play.
adjective + noun That’s a nice dress.
She’s a good actor.

 

Form

Positive sentences


I		 am / ‘m

cold / hungry
a student / a teacher
at home / in the kitchen

You / We / They

are / ’re

He / She / It

is / ‘s

Negative Sentences


I

am not / ‘m not

cold / hungry
a student / a teacher
at home / in the kitchen

You / We / They

are not / aren’t / ’re not

He / She / It

is not / isn’t  / ‘s not

Questions


Am

I

cold / hungry?
a student / a teacher?
at home / in the kitchen?

Are

you / we / they

Is

he / she / it

Short answers


Yes,

I am.
you are.
he / she / it is.
we are.
they are.

No,

I’m not.
you aren’t / you’re not.
he isn’t / he’s not.
we aren’t / we’re not.
they aren’t / they’re not.

Contractions

The verb be has a full form and a contracted form.

  • I am = I’m
  • He is = He’s

We normally use the contracted form (‘m / ‘s / ‘re) in speaking and informal writing.
We write the words in full in formal writing.

You can only use one contraction at a time:

  • eg: He isn’t
  • He’s not
  • but NOT He’sn’t

You can contract ‘be’ after pronouns (I, you, she etc) and names.

You can contract ‘is’ after question words.

  • What is your name? => What’s your name?
  • But do not contract ‘are’ after question words.
  • Where are you from? => Where’re you from?


Do not contract short answers:

  • Yes, I am NOT Yes, I’m

Common mistakes

1. In English, every sentence must have a verb. Some students write sentences with no verb.

  • I very hungry. => I’m very hungry
  • My brother in his bedroom. => My brother is in his bedroom.

2. Some students write questions incorrectly.

  • She is your sister? => Is she your sister?


be – past tense

Use

1)           Use was and were to talk about situations in the past.
                It was cold yesterday.
               My mum was a teacher when she was younger.
               The children were late for school yesterday.

2)           You can use was and were before:
               a) nouns                              My mum was a teacher.
               b) adjectives                      We were late yesterday.
               c) locations                         The book was in my bag!
She wasn’t there.

               DON’T use was and were before an infinitive verb.
               I was go to the park yesterday.                  →           I went to the park yesterday.

Form

Positive


I

was

at school.
late.
a doctor.

You

were

He / She / It

was

We / They

were

Negative


I

wasn’t

at school.
late.
a doctor.

You

weren’t

He / She / It

wasn’t

We / They

weren’t

Question


Was

I

at school?
late?
a doctor?

Were

you

Was

he / she / it

Were

we / they

Short answers


Yes, I / he / she / it

was.

No, I / he / she / it

wasn’t.

Yes, you / we / they

were.

No, you / we / they

weren’t.

 

Common mistakes

1)  Some students make questions incorrectly.

  • You were at the party?  →  Were you at the party?

2) Some students use the wrong verb.

  • We was very happy.  →    We were very happy.