The simple present of the verb To BeA
conjugation of a verb is a list showing the different forms a verb may take. When a verb is conjugated, it is usually accompanied by all of the
personal pronouns which can act as subjects of a verb. Thus, a conjugation can show the different forms a verb must take when it is used with different subjects.
The English personal pronouns which may be used as subjects of verbs are as follows:
It should be noted that in modern English, the same verb forms are used with the subject
you, whether
you refers to one or more than one person or thing. In an older form of English, there was another personal pronoun,
thou, which was used with different verb forms, and which generally referred to one person or thing.
The Simple Present of the verb
to be is conjugated as follows. In spoken English, contractions are often used.
Without contractions | With contractions |
I am | I'm |
you are | you're |
he is | he's |
she is | she's |
it is | it's |
we are | we're |
they are | they're |
In written English, an apostrophe:
' is used in a contraction, to indicate that one or more letters have been omitted.
a. Affirmative statementsAn affirmative statement states that something is true. In an affirmative statement, the verb follows the subject.
e.g. I am awake.
They are ready.
In the first example, the verb
am follows the subject
I. In the second example, the verb
are follows the subject
they. In written English, statements are always followed by a period:
. Statements and questions must begin with a capital letter.
In order to review the preceding points, see Exercise 1.
b. QuestionsFor the Simple Present of the verb
to be, questions are formed by reversing the order of the subject and the verb, so that the verb precedes the subject.
e.g. Am I awake?
Are they ready?
In the first example, the verb
am precedes the subject
I. In the second example, the verb
are precedes the subject
they. In written English, questions are always followed by a question mark:
?See Exercise 2.
c. Negative statementsIn the Simple Present of the verb
to be, negative statements are formed by adding the word
not after the verb.
e.g. I am
not awake.
They are
not ready.
In the first example,
not follows the verb
am. In the second example,
not follows the verb
are.
In spoken English, the following contractions are often used:
Without contractions | With contractions |
is not | isn't |
are not | aren't |
See Exercise 3.
d. Negative questionsIn the Simple Present of the verb
to be, negative questions are formed by reversing the order of the subject and verb, and adding
not after the subject.
e.g. Am I not awake?
Are they not ready?
In spoken English, contractions are usually used in negative questions. In the contracted form of a negative question, the contraction of
not follows immediately after the verb. For example:
Without contractions | With contractions |
Are you not awake? | Aren't you awake? |
Is he not awake? | Isn't he awake? |
Are we not awake? | Aren't we awake? |
Are they not awake? | Aren't they awake? |
It should be noted that there is no universally accepted contraction for
am not. In spoken English,
am I not? is often contracted to
aren't I?. However, although the expression
aren't I? is considered acceptable in informal English, it is not considered to be grammatically correct in formal English. In formal English, no contraction should be used for
am I not.
See Exercise 4.