The Simple Present of the Verb to be

Introduction

This page explains the simple present tense of the verb “to be,” focusing on how it looks and when to use it.

The Simple Present Of The Verb To Be

Understanding The Verb To Be

The verb “to be” is crucial in English, though it can be tricky because it doesn’t follow regular patterns. In the simple present tense, it changes as follows:

Affirmative Forms Of The Verb To Be

Subject Pronouns	Full Form	Contracted Form
I	am	‘m
you	are	‘re
he/she/it	is	‘s
we	are	‘re
you	are	‘re
they	are	‘re

Asking Questions With The Verb To Be:

Am	I?
Are	you?
Is	he/she/it?
Are	we?
Are	you?
Are	they?

Negative Forms of the verb to be:

Subject Pronouns	Full Form	Contracted Form
I	am not	‘m not
you	are not	aren’t
he/she/it	is not	isn’t
we	are not	aren’t
you	are not	aren’t
they	are not	aren’t

Examples:

1. Is Brad Pitt French?
   • No, he isn’t. He‘s American.
2. What about Angelina Joli? Is she American, too?
   • Yes, she is. She is American.
3. Are Brad Pitt and Angelina Joli French?
   • No, They aren’t. They are American.

Use of the simple present of the verb to be

The principal use of the simple present is to refer to:

• An action or event that takes place habitually.
  • She always wakes up at 5 am.
• A present or general state, whether temporary or permanent.
  • I am happy.
  • She is helpful.
• Something true at the present moment.
  • She is 20 years old.
  • He is a student.

Contractions Of The Verb To Be

To make your speech flow better, you can contract the verb “to be” like this:

• I am in charge of the company. = I’m in charge of the company.
• You are a great man! = You’re such a great man!
• She is fantastic! = She’s fantastic!
• He is my father-in-law. = He’s a father-in-law.
• It is a beautiful city! = It’s a beautiful city!
• We are tired. = We’re tired.
• They are in the classroom. = They’re in the classroom.

Negatives Of The Verb To Be

When saying something isn’t true, use ‘not’ after the verb.

For example:

• ‘I am‘ =>’I am not‘
• ‘He is‘ =>’he’s not” or ‘he isn’t‘ ).

Here’s how you can contract or expand the verb “to be” when forming negative statements:

I am not tired.	I’m not tired.	X
He is not a member of the club.	He’s not a member of the club.	She isn’t a member of the club.
She is not a teacher.	She is not a teacher.	She isn’t a teacher.
It is not a priority	It’s not a priority.	She isn’t a teacher.
We are not exhausted.	We’re not exhausted.	We aren’t exhausted.
They are not here.	They’re not here.	They aren’t here.

NOTE: I amn’t is not correct.

Questions With The Verb To Be

Turning statements into questions involves changing the order of ‘am,’ ‘is,’ or ‘are’ and the person.

Examples:

• He is a policeman => Is he a policeman?
• She is jealous => Is she Jealous?

Here are more examples of question construction:

• Are you hungry?
• Is he happy?
• Is it your car?
• Are we on time?
• Are they at home?

Short Answers With The Verb To Be

Providing short answers like “Yes, he is” or “No he isn’t” can be effective.

Here are affirmative and negative short answers with and without contraction:

Yes, I am	No, I am not	I’m not
Yes, you, we, they are	No, you, we, they are not	No, you, we, they aren’t
Yes, he, she, it is	N, he, she, it is not	Yes, he, she, it isn’t

Note that with short answers, we only use contractions when the answer is negative (No, …).

Questions With Wh-Words

Adding more meaning to the questions:

Using question words like “where, when, who or what” can add more meaning to your questions.

Use question words at the beginning of a question. Here are some examples:

• How are you? => I am fine.
• Where is Jane? => She is at home.
• When is the meeting? => It is on Monday morning.
• Who are they? => They are my relatives.
• What time is it? => It is 9 pm.

Remember:

• I, you, he, she, it, you, they are subject pronouns (also called personal pronouns, a term used to include both subject and object pronouns.)
• am, are, is are forms of the verb to be in the simple present.
• ‘m, ‘re, ‘s are short (contracted) forms of am, are, is.
• ‘m not, aren’t, isn’t are short (contracted) forms of am not, are not, is not.

Related Pages:

• Learn more about the use of the simple present of other verbs
• Exercise on the simple present of the verb to be