‘Be‘ is a very common verb in English. We use it to talk about many things, such as name, age, height, weight, time, place, weather, jobs, state, etc.
![The verb 'be' in Present Simple](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/are-you-happy-today-160218154828/95/are-you-happy-today-4-638.jpg?cb=1455810546)
![The verb 'be' in Present Simple](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/are-you-happy-today-160218154828/95/are-you-happy-today-4-638.jpg?cb=1455810546)
![The verb 'be' in Present Simple](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/are-you-happy-today-160218154828/95/are-you-happy-today-4-638.jpg?cb=1455810546)
Negative forms of ‘be’ in Present Simple
To make negative sentences using be in the Present Simple, we just add ‘not‘ after the verb ‘be’.
Singular | Plural |
I am not (’m not) You are not (aren’t) He/she/is not (isn’t) | We are not (aren’t) You are not (aren’t) They are not (aren’t) |
The verb ‘be’ takes the same form in positive and negative sentences. The only difference is that we add ‘not’.
- I’m not a pupil, I’m a student.
- They are not at home.
- She isn’t in London, she’s in Paris.
- We aren’t happy about this.
Note: “Is not” and “are not” can be contracted in two ways. The subject and verb can be contracted, or the verb and ‘not’. – You are not a doctor. (full form) – You’re not a doctor. – You aren’t a doctor. – She is not here right now. (full form) – She isn’t here right now. – She’s not here right now. |
There isn’t/there aren’t
When we want to make a negative impersonal statement with ‘there is’ or ‘there are’, we can add ‘not‘ or ‘no‘ depending on the noun that follows.
- There is no money in your wallet.
- There aren’t any chairs at the table.
- There isn’t enough food for everyone.
Questions with ‘be’ in Present Simple
To make questions with ‘be’ in the Present Simple, we put the verb before the subject and add a question mark at the end.
Compare positive statements and questions:
![The verb be in questions](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6SgKmjMeSbM/U4k3xjNdUxI/AAAAAAAAA1I/CYUO8huJL-w/s1600/Verb+be+questions.png)
![The verb be in questions](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6SgKmjMeSbM/U4k3xjNdUxI/AAAAAAAAA1I/CYUO8huJL-w/s1600/Verb+be+questions.png)
![The verb be in questions](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6SgKmjMeSbM/U4k3xjNdUxI/AAAAAAAAA1I/CYUO8huJL-w/s1600/Verb+be+questions.png)
Yes/No questions
To create a question that will be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, put ‘Am‘/’Is‘/’Are‘ (or ‘Isn’t‘/’Aren’t‘ for a negative question) + before the subject.
- Are you in the office? –No, I’m not. I’m still at home.
- Is she alone in New York City? – No, she isn’t. She is with her boyfriend.
- Oh, are they happy to be there together?
Note: In short positive answers to the questions with the verb ‘be’ we use only full forms of ‘am/is/are’. In short negative answers we can also use short forms of ‘
am/is/are’.
Special questions
Special questions (also known as wh-questions) are questions that require more information in their answers. They are made using wh- words such as what, where, when, why, which, who, how, how many, how much.
To make a special question, use the same word order as with yes-no questions but put a wh-word before the verb ‘be’. The structure is:
wh- word + am/is/are + the rest of the sentence
- Where is your brother?
- How are you today?
- Why are you here?
The verb be may be contracted:
- What’s your hobby?
- Why’s your toy on the floor?
However, we usually do not contract a question word and the ‘are’ form of be:
- Where are you?
- Where’re you? (not used in most situations)
- When are we leaving?
- When’re we leaving? (not used in most situations)
Watch this video from Kyle Rolofson to see how the verb ‘be’ is used in questions and negative statements:
See also: