The Verb To Be: Am, Is, Are with Examples

Be is an irregular verb, so its forms do not look like the base form be. In the present there are three forms: am for I, is for he, she, it and one person or thing, and are for you, we, they and more than one person or thing.

To make a negative, put not after the verb: I am not, she is not, they are not. To make a question, change the word order and put the verb before the subject: She is ready becomes Is she ready? Unlike other verbs in the present simple, be never uses do or does.

In conversation, people almost always use short forms: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're. You can learn more about these in English contractions.

We use be to give basic information about people and things. The most common uses are:

Names and identity: I'm Ahmet. This is my sister.

Jobs: She's a teacher. They're engineers. Notice that English needs a or an before a single job.

Age: I'm 25. My son is six. In English we are an age; we do not have one.

Nationality and origin: We're Turkish. He's from Canada.

Feelings and states: I'm tired. Are you OK? She's cold.

Descriptions: The room is small. Your shoes are nice.

Place: The keys are on the table. Is Mum at home?

The short form 's is not only for he, she and it. In speech we also add it to names, nouns and question words: Ali's here. My phone's dead. Where's the toilet? What's your name?

Do not mix up this 's with the possessive 's in Ali's bag. The meaning is different: Ali's here means Ali is here, but Ali's bag means the bag that belongs to Ali. Read about the second one in possessive 's.

We do not usually shorten are after nouns in writing, but you will hear it in fast speech: The kids're asleep.

Many learners use have where English uses be. In English you are hungry, thirsty, cold, hot, afraid, right, wrong and 20 years old. You do not have these things. Say I'm cold, not I have cold.

The other common problem is using do with be. Be makes its own questions and negatives: Are you a student? (not Do you are a student?) and He isn't here (not He doesn't be here).

Be also helps other verbs. In the present continuous, am, is and are come before an -ing verb: I'm reading. In a normal present simple sentence, there is no am, is or are: I read every day, not I am read every day.

When you say that something exists or is in a place for the first time, use there is and there are: There's a café on the corner. After that, use it or they to talk about it again: It's very good.

We also use it is for the weather, time, dates and distances. English sentences need a subject, so we use it even when it means nothing: It's raining. It's five o'clock. It's Monday. It's two kilometres to the beach.

You will hear be in almost every first conversation: introductions, small talk and simple questions. Native speakers use short forms all the time, and the 's or 're is often very quiet. Listen carefully for it: he's going and he's gone both start with he's.

Use full forms when you want to make something strong: I am listening! (because someone thinks you are not). For more first-conversation phrases, see English greetings and small talk in English.