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The verb "To be"
​(Present tense)

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The Simple Present Tense of the verb To be:
Affirmative form

Subject

To be

Contraction

I

am

I’m

You

are

You’re

He / She /It

is

He’s / She’s / It’s

We

are

We’re

You

are

You’re

They

are

They’re

 

EXAMPLES
  • I am here now.
  • You are a doctor.
  • He is 17 years old.
  • She is beautiful.
  • It is a big book.
  • We are friends.
  • You are married.
  • They are from Colombia.
Click here for "To be" - Affirmative Online Exercise - Download in PDF

Negative form
The negative form of simple present tense with “To be” can be made by adding not after the verb.

Subject

To be

Two ways of forming contractions

I

am not

I’m not

-

You

are not

You’re not

You aren’t

He

is not

He’s not

He isn’t

She

is not

She’s not

She isn’t

It

is not

It’s not

It isn’t

We

are not

We’re not

We aren’t

You

are not

You’re not

You aren’t

They

are not

They’re not

They aren’t

 

EXAMPLES
  • I’m not happy.
  • Kevin’s not my neighbor.
  • That’s not right.
  • Susan and Leo aren’t married.
  • My wife and I are not interested in Facebook.
Click here for "To be" - Negative Online Exercise - Download in PDF

​Questions form and answers
The question form of simple present tense with “To be” can be made by putting the verb before the subject.

To be

Subject

 

Am

I

happy?

Are

you

happy?

Is

he / she / it

happy?

Are

we

happy?

Are

you

happy?

Are

they

happy?

 

EXAMPLES
  • Am I early?                   Yes, you are.    / No, you aren’t
  • Are you happy?        Yes, I am.            / No, I’m not.
  • Is he French?               Yes, he is.           / No, he isn’t
  • Is she from France? Yes, she is.         / No, she’s not.
  • Is it a small house?   Yes, it is.             / No, it’s not.
  • Are we ready?             Yes, we are.     / No, we aren’t.
  • Are you engineers?  Yes, we are.     / No, we’re not.
  • Are they angry?          Yes, they are. / No they aren’t.
You can add a question word (why, where, how, who, etc.) before the verb to be (am, is or are) to ask for more information.
EXAMPLES
  • Why am I hungry?
  • Where are you?
  • How is he?
  • Who is she?
  • How is the weather today?
  • Where are we?
  • How are you?
  • Why are they angry?
Click here for "To be" - Questions 1 Online Exercise - Download in PDF
Click here for "To be" - Questions 2 Online Exercise - Download in PDF
Click here for all the verb "To be" Exercises
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