To Be - Affirmative
Subject | To Be | Examples |
I | am | I am from New Zealand. |
You | are | You are Chilean. |
He | is | He is twenty years old. |
She | is | She is a nurse. |
It | is | It is a big dog. |
We | are | We are intelligent. |
You | are | You are students. |
They | are | They are married. |
Contractions of To Be are very frequent when we are speaking.
To Be | Contraction | Examples |
I am | I'm | I'm from New Zealand. |
You are | You're | You're Chilean. |
He is | He's | He's twenty years old. |
She is | She's | She's a nurse. |
It is | It's | It's a big dog. |
We are | We're | We're intelligent. |
You are | You're | You're students. |
They are | They're | They're married. |
To Be - Negative Sentences
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb.
Subject | To Be | Examples |
I | am not | I am not from Spain. |
You | are not | You are not Australian. |
He | is not | He is not thirty years old. |
She | is not | She is not a secretary. |
It | is not | It is not a small cat. |
We | are not | We are not stupid. |
You | are not | You are not teachers. |
They | are not | They are not single. |
To Be - Negative Contractions
There are two ways of forming contractions of To Be in negative sentences. One is with a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I am = I'm) OR a contraction of the verb and not (e.g. are not = aren't)
I'm not from Spain. | --- | --------------* |
You're not Australian. | OR | You aren't Australian. |
He's not thirty years old. | OR | He isn't thirty years old. |
She's not a secretary. | OR | She isn't a secretary. |
It's not a small cat. | OR | It isn't a small cat. |
We're not stupid. | OR | We aren't stupid. |
You're not teachers. | OR | You aren't teachers. |
They're not single. | OR | They aren't single. |
Notice that the only possible contraction for I am not is I'm not.
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To Be - Questions
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.
Affirmative | You | are | happy. |
Subject | Verb | ||
Question | Are | you | happy? |
Verb | Subject |
Affirmative | Question |
I am intelligent. | Am I intelligent? |
You are a student. | Are you a student? |
He is a pilot. | Is he a pilot? |
She is from Spain. | Is she from Spain? |
It is a big house. | Is it a big house? |
We are ready. | Are we ready? |
You are doctors. | Are you doctors? |
They are rich. | Are they rich? |
To Be - Short Answers
In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.
Are you a student? - Yes, I am (a student). The last part (a student) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.
Question | Short Answers** | Short Answers |
Am I intelligent? | Yes, you are. | No, you aren't. |
Are you a student? | Yes, I am. | No, I am not. |
Is he a pilot? | Yes, he is. | No, he isn't. |
Is she from Spain? | Yes, she is. | No, she isn't. |
Is it a big house? | Yes, it is. | No, it isn't. |
Are we ready? | Yes, we are. | No, we aren't. |
Are you doctors? | Yes, we are. | No, we aren't. |
Are they rich? | Yes, they are. | No, they aren't. |
With To Be, We don't use contractions in affirmative short answers unless there is additional information after it (in which case they are no longer considered short answers).
The following table shows you the word order of questions with Where when it is used with To Be.
Where | To Be | Subject | Example Answers |
Where | am | I? | You're in the hospital. |
Where | are | you? | I'm at work. |
Where | is | he? | He's at home. |
Where | is | she? | She's in the store. |
Where | is | it? | It's on the table. |
Where | are | we? | You're at my new job |
Where | are | you? | We're at school. |
Where | are | they? | They're at university. |
You can also ask where things or places are:
Where | To Be | Subject | Example Answers |
Where | is | my book? | It's on the table. |
Where | are | my books? | They're on the desk. |
Remember:
Is + singular word
Are + plural word.
Other examples of Where + To Be
- Where is the Statue of Liberty? It's in New York.
- Where is the Eiffel Tower? It's in Paris.
- Where are your parents right now? They're on holiday.
- Where is your favorite restaurant? It's downtown.
Verb Conjugation & Spelling
We form the present tense using the base form of the infinitive (without the TO).
In general, in the third person we add ' S ' in the third person.
Subject | Verb | The Rest of the sentence |
I / you / we / they | speak / learn | English at home |
he / she / it | speaks / learns | English at home |
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The spelling for the verb in the third person differs depending on the ending of that verb:
1. For verbs that end in -O, -CH, -SH, -SS, -X, or -Z we add -ES in the third person.
- go – goes
- catch – catches
- wash – washes
- kiss – kisses
- fix – fixes
- buzz – buzzes
2. For verbs that end in a consonant + Y, we remove the Y and add -IES.
- marry – marries
- study – studies
- carry – carries
- worry – worries
NOTE: For verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we just add -S.
- play – plays
- enjoy – enjoys
- say – says
Negative Sentences in the Simple Present Tense
To make a negative sentence in English we normally use Don't or Doesn't with all verbs EXCEPT To Be and Modal verbs (can, might, should etc.).
- Affirmative: You speak French.
Negative: You don't speak French.
You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.
- Affirmative: He speaks German.
Negative: He doesn't speak German.
When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the negative sentence. We will see the reason why below.
Negative Contractions
Don't = Do not
Doesn't = Does not
I don't like meat = I do not like meat.
There is no difference in meaning though we normally use contractions in spoken English.
Word Order of Negative Sentences
The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.
Subject | don't/doesn't | Verb* | The Rest of the sentence |
I / you / we / they | don't | have / buy eat / like etc. | cereal for breakfast |
he / she / it | doesn't |
* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Negative Sentences with Don't and Doesn't:
- You don't speak Arabic.
- John doesn't speak Italian.
- We don't have time for a rest.
- It doesn't move.
- They don't want to go to the party.
- She doesn't like fish.