The Verb to Be (Part 2) – English Grammar Rules & Examples

Use:
Use be with:

Names	Hello, I’m John.
Your age	How old are* you?* I’m 17.
Places	London is in England. The Pyramids are* in Egypt.* The bank is one kilometre from here.
Adjectives	This hotel is nice. I’m hungry.
Jobs and family	*I’m* a student. My parents are* doctors.* This is my sister. Ann and Tom are* my children.*
Other Nouns	Jess is a dog. ‘Hamlet’ is a play.
adjective + noun	That’s a nice dress. She’s a good actor.

Form:

Positive sentences

I	am / ‘m	cold / hungry a student / a teacher at home / in the kitchen
You / We / They	are / ’re
He / She / It	is / ‘s

Negative Sentences

I	am not / ‘m not	cold / hungry a student / a teacher at home / in the kitchen
You / We / They	are not / aren’t / ’re not
He / She / It	is not / isn’t / ‘s not

Questions

Am	I	cold / hungry? a student / a teacher? at home / in the kitchen?
Are	you / we / they
Is	he / she / it

Short answers

Yes,	I am. you are. he / she / it is. we are. they are.

No,	I’m not. you aren’t / you’re not. he isn’t / he’s not. we aren’t / we’re not. they aren’t / they’re not.

Contractions

The verb be has a full form and a contracted form.
I am = I’m
He is = He’s

We normally use the contracted form (‘m / ‘s / ‘re) in speaking and informal writing.
We write the words in full in formal writing.

You can only use one contraction at a time:
eg: He isn’t
He’s not
but NOT ~~He’sn’t~~

You can contract ‘be’ after pronouns (I, you, she etc) and names.

You can contract ‘is’ after question words.
What is your name? => What’s your name?
But do not contract ‘are’ after question words.
Where are you from? => ~~Where’re you from?~~

Do not contract short answers:
Yes, I am NOT ~~Yes, I’m~~

Common mistakes
1. In English, every sentence must have a verb. Some students write sentences with no verb.
~~I very hungry~~. => I’m very hungry
~~My brother in his bedroom~~. => My brother is in his bedroom.

2. Some students write questions incorrectly.
~~She is your sister?~~ => Is she your sister?

be – past tense

Use:
1)           Use was and were to talk about situations in the past.
                It was cold yesterday.
               My mum was a teacher when she was younger.
               The children were late for school yesterday.

2)           You can use was and were before:
               a) nouns                              My mum was a teacher.
               b) adjectives                      We were late yesterday.
               c) locations                         The book was in my bag!
She wasn’t there.

DON’T use was and were before an infinitive verb.
~~I was go to the park yesterday.~~ → I went to the park yesterday.

Form:
Positive

I	was	at school. late. a doctor.
You	were
He / She / It	was
We / They	were

Negative

I	wasn’t	at school. late. a doctor.
You	weren’t
He / She / It	wasn’t
We / They	weren’t

Question

Was	I	at school? late? a doctor?
Were	you
Was	he / she / it
Were	we / they

Short answers

Yes, I / he / she / it	was.	No, I / he / she / it	wasn’t.
Yes, you / we / they	were.	No, you / we / they	weren’t.

Common mistakes
1)            Some students make questions incorrectly.
~~You were at the party?~~ →           Were you at the party?
2)            Some students use the wrong verb.
~~We was very happy.~~       →           We were very happy.