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;

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.

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.

 SUBJECT TO BE NEGATIVE(+)

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 +

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?
subject pronouns function as the subject of a clause or sentence. The subject pronouns
are:
 I
 You
 He
 She
 It
 We
 They
Subject Pronoun in Action
Generally speaking, the typical structure of a sentence in English is subject + verb +
direct object. That isn't always the case, of course, but it is the basic formula. The
subject can then be replaced by a subject pronoun in subsequent mentions to reduce
unnecessary repetition.
For example, consider this set of sentences that does not take advantage of subject
pronouns:
Sheila really makes me laugh. Sheila is too funny.

Now, see what happens when we replace the subject "Sheila" with an appropriate
subject pronoun in this example:
Sheila really makes me laugh. She is too funny.

Because the typical structure of an English sentence is subject + verb + direct object, the
subject pronoun can most often be found at the beginning of a sentence. Remember
that the subject is the one that is performing the action.

Examples of Subject Pronouns

Here are a few sentences using subject pronouns. The subject pronoun is highlighted in
bold.
 Lucy housesat for us. She watered the plants and brought in the mail.
 I wanted to go to the party. He wanted to stay at home.
 The puppies are cute, but sometimes they act crazy.
 You can go to the game, as long as you finish the dishes.
 It just isn't possible.
 Will they be leaving for Spain this summer?
 I love that dress!
 She and Janette went to the party last night.
 We left early to avoid traffic.
 He is the fastest runner on the team.
 George's daughter really enjoys playing video games. She spends countless hours
glued to his Xbox.
 The balloon floated into a tree, where it popped loudly.
 We are finished with those examples.