How to use the verb to be in English

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Be in the present simple tense

Affirmative form

Construction: subject + be

I am
you are
he / she / it is
we are
you are
they are

The contracted form is very common (especially orally):

I am → I’m
you are → you’re
he is → he’s
she is → she’s
it is → it’s
we are → we’re
you are → you’re
they are → they’re

Negative form

Simply add NOT after the verb:

I am not
you are not
he / she / it is not
we are not
you are not
they are not

The negative form can be contracted:

I am not → I’m not
he is not → he isn’t OR he’s not
you are not → you aren’t OR you’re not

Interrogative form

To ask a question, it’s simple: you have to reverse the subject and be. The verb Be is then placed at the beggining of the sentence:

am I making myself clear?
are you happy?
is he ok?
are we arrived yet?

Be in preterite (= past simple)

Affirmative form

I was
you were
he / she / it was
we were
you were

Be careful, there is no contracted form.

Negative form

I was not
you were not
he / she / it was not
we were not
you were not
they were not

The negative form can be contracted:

was not → wasn’t
were not → weren’t

Interrogative form

Just like the present, be is placed at the beginning of the sentence, but at the preterit tense (was or were):

was I?
were you?
was he / she / it?
were we?
were vou?
were they?

How to use the verb to be

In English, the verb BE can be either verb or auxiliary.

As a main verb:

With a name, to talk about a characteristic:

Sam is very tall.
My mother was a teacher.
This cake is very tasty.
The children were good.
Paul and his wife are from New York.
The flowers are on the table.

As an auxiliary:

To make the continuous form with -ing:

They are eating
It had been raining for hours.

To do the passive voice:

It’s broken
This car was made in Japan.

REMEMBER!

Be has a lot of different meanings:

To talk about a state:

I’m hungry / thirsty
I’m lucky

To say the age of someone:

I’m 24.
He is 17.
She is my age.

To talk about the weather

It’s hot / it’s cold today.

To talk about size:

She is the same height as her husband.
He is 6 feet tall.
How tall are you? (NOT ~~How high are you?~~)
That tree is about 20 metres high.

⚠️ to talk about weight, do not use to be but the verb weigh: He weighs 70 kilos. (He is 70 kilos. = ❌)

To indicate a distance:

It’s 5 km to the next town.

⚠️ There are often mistakes with Born

I was born (NOT: ~~I am~~ born)
He was born (NOT: ~~He is~~ born)
They were born (NOT: ~~They are~~ born)

Question tags with TO BE

The following formula must be used: be (contracted if negative) + personal pronoun.

Positive sentences are followed by a negative question tag, and negative sentences by a positive question tag:

You are Paul, aren’t you?
Miguel is from Spain, isn’t he?
He isn’t coming, is he?
Linda was tired, wasn’t she?
This isn’t working, is it?
We weren’t late, were we?

Phrasal verbs with BE

There are many of them! Here are some of the most common ones:

be about to (= be ready to do something)

The bus is about to leave
He was about to say something.

be off (= to leave / to stop working)

Bye guys, I’m off!
Make sure the lights are off.

be out (= be absent from home or work)

You can’t talk to my boss. He’s out.

be out of (= to run out of something)

I am out of flour, I can’t make pancakes.
He’s been out of work for a long time.

be up (= be awake / increase / expire)

It’s ten o’clock and Tina isn’t up yet.
The price of bread is up again this week.
The warranty on the camera is up. If it breaks now we’ll have to pay for it.

be up to (= planning a bad move, something bad)

What are those children up to now?

BE + GOING TO

Be + going to express an intention in the future, or a certainty:

We’re going to have a party.
He’s going to wash the car.
I think it’s going to rain.

Tags: Grammar

How to use the verb to be in English (rules & examples)