Forms of the verb to be: am, is, are

Forms of the verb to be for all persons

In the present tense (Present Simple), the verb to be has three forms: am, is, and are. The choice of form depends on who or what we are talking about:

Important: In Ukrainian, we often omit the word “are/is” (for example: “I am at home”, “He is happy”). In English, you cannot do this. A sentence must contain a verb, so we say: “I AM at home” (I am home.).

Affirmative sentences

An affirmative sentence is built like this:

Who / What + the correct form of to be + the rest of the sentence.

What if there is no pronoun?

In real speech, we do not always use pronouns such as he, she, it, or they. Much more often, we use specific words instead: sister, colleagues, weather, dog. To avoid mistakes with the form of to be, first determine which pronoun can replace the noun, and only then choose the correct form.

A sister — this is she (she), so we choose is:

My sister is a doctor.

Parents — this is they (they), so we choose are:

His parents are on vacation.

The cat or the weather — in English, all inanimate objects and animals, unless it is your pet whose gender you know, are considered it (it), so we choose is:

The cat is on the sofa.

The weather is beautiful today.

Tom and I — if the group includes “I”, then together we are we (we), so we choose are:

Tom and I are late.

Quick self-check cheat sheet:

Singular (one person or one thing: a manager, a car, my friend) can mentally be replaced with he / she / it — use is.

Plural (two or more objects: managers, cars, my friends) can mentally be replaced with they — use are.

The difference between You and Your

Rule #1: The pronoun you

In English, the pronoun you means both “you” (for one person) and “you” (for several people or as a polite form). Grammatically, you is always treated as plural, so it is always used with are, never with is.

You are late. (You are late.)

Incorrect: You is late.

Rule #2: Don’t confuse you and your

The words sound similar, but they work completely differently:

You is the pronoun “you”. It is always used with are.

Your is a possessive pronoun. By itself, it does not affect the choice of the form of to be. We look at the word that comes after it.

Compare these examples to understand the difference forever:

You are my friend. (We look at You — so we need are.)

Now look at phrases with Your:

Your teacher is very tall. (Why is? Because teacher = she, singular.)

Your boyfriend is handsome. (Why is? Because boyfriend = he, singular.)

Your parents are in the garden. (Why are? Because parents = they, plural.)

Lifehack: When you see the word your in a sentence, mentally cross it out and look at the next noun. If that noun is singular (dog, boss, car) — confidently use is. If the noun is plural (dogs, bosses, cars) — use are.

Contractions in affirmative sentences

In real life, native speakers almost never use full forms unless they want to strongly emphasize something. They use contractions (contractions):

Negative sentences

Full forms with the verb to be in negatives

To say that someone or something is not something, we need the negative particle not. It is simply placed after the verb to be:

Short forms with the verb to be in negatives

Here we actually have two shortening options, and both are completely correct. You can shorten either the pronoun with the verb, or the verb with the particle not:

Option A (shortening the pronoun):

Option B (shortening the particle not):

Exception: For the first person (I), the form amn't does not exist. You can only say: I'm not.

I'm not sure.

Incorrect: I amn't sure.

Negatives in spoken English: ain't

If you listen to American rap, watch TV series, or Hollywood action movies, you have definitely heard the word ain't.

Ain't is a universal spoken (slang) negative form that replaces all of these forms: am not, is not, are not (as well as has not / have not).

Warning: This is a very informal style (slang). Use it with friends, but never write it in business emails, essays, or exams because it is considered a grammatical mistake in standard English.

Question sentences

The verb to be is independent, so to build questions it does not need auxiliary verbs (such as do or does). It simply moves to the beginning of the sentence (this process is called inversion).

General questions (Yes/No questions)

These are questions that can be answered simply with “yes” or “no”. The form of to be moves to the beginning of the sentence:

Statement: You are a student.

Question: Are you a student?

Short answers:

In English, it is considered impolite to answer with just Yes or No. You should repeat the verb in the answer:

Special questions (Wh-questions)

If we need to find out specific information (where, when, why, who), we use question words (Where, When, Why, Who, How). They are placed before the verb to be:

Question word + am / is / are + who / what + ... ?

In what situations is the verb to be used?

The main function of the verb to be is to describe states, characteristics, facts, and to identify objects or people. If your sentence does not contain an active action (that is, nobody is running, reading, or building), you will almost certainly need to be.

Here are the main real-life situations in which English requires the use of this verb:

Name and introduction

When you introduce yourself or someone else:

I am Mary. (I am Mary / My name is Mary.)

This is Mr. Jones. (This is Mr. Jones.)

Age

Unlike Ukrainian, where people “have” years (a literal translation does not work), in English age is considered a state, so we say “I am this age”:

I am 25 years old. (I am 25 years old.)

My son is five. (My son is five years old.)

Origin and nationality

When you talk about where you are from or what nationality you are:

We are from Ukraine. (We are from Ukraine.)

She is Italian. (She is Italian.)

Profession, occupation, and status

Describing what a person does for work or their social/marital status:

He is a software engineer. (He is a software engineer.)

They are university students. (They are university students.)

I am single. (I am single.)

Alex and Nina are married. (Alex and Nina are married.)

Emotional and physical states

Describing feelings, emotions, or a person’s current condition:

I am tired after work. (I am tired after work.)

She is happy with the results. (She is happy with the results.)

We are hungry. (We are hungry.)

Location and description of objects/weather

Indicating where an object is located or what characteristics it has:

The keys are on the table. (The keys are on the table.)

The car is blue. (The car is blue.)

The weather is beautiful today. (The weather is beautiful today.)