The Present Simple Tense - Be

Be ( am / are / is )

We use the verb be with nouns, adjectives, prepositions, the continuous tenses and the passive voice.

For I, be changes into am.

For You, We and They, be changes into are.

For He, She and It, be changes into is.

Be comes before the subject in questions.

For closed questions (yes and no answers):

BE	Subject			Yes/No	Subject	BE
Am	I	correct?	⇒	Yes,	you	are.
Are	you	a teacher?	⇒	Yes,	I	am.
Is	he	at work?	⇒	Yes,	he	is.
Is	she	in London?	⇒	No,	she	isn't.
Is	it	a book?	⇒	Yes,	it	is.
Are	we	near?	⇒	Yes,	we	are.
Are	they	busy?	⇒	No,	they	aren't.

For open questions (many possible answers) we use a question word:

Question	BE	Subject		Subject	BE	Answer
How	am	I?	⇒	You	are	good.
Where	are	you?	⇒	I	am	at work.
How	is	he?	⇒	He	is	OK.
Where	is	she?	⇒	She	is	in London.
What	is	it?	⇒	It	is	a book.
Where	are	we?	⇒	We	are	near Liverpool.
How	are	they?	⇒	They	are	busy.

For I, He, She and It, be changes into was in the past simple.

For You, We and They, be changes into were in the past simple:

Tip!
* We cannot contract the positive forms of be in the past simple tense.
I's busy yesterday. ✘
I was busy yesterday. ✔

Be comes before the subject in questions.

For closed questions (yes and no answers):

BE	Subject		Past		Yes/No	Subject	BE
Was	I	good	yesterday?	⇒	Yes,	you	were.
Were	you	tired	last week?	⇒	Yes,	I	was.
Was	he	at university	in 2012?	⇒	Yes,	he	was.
Was	she	a student	5 years ago?	⇒	No,	she	wasn't.
Was	it	a good car	10 years ago?	⇒	Yes,	it	was.
Were	we	helpful	last month?	⇒	Yes,	we	were.
Were	they	busy	earlier this morning?	⇒	No,	they	weren't.

For open questions (many possible answers) we use a question word:

Question	BE	Subject		Subject	BE	Answer
How	was	I?	⇒	You	were	good.
Where	were	you?	⇒	I	was	at work.
How	was	he?	⇒	He	was	OK.
Where	was	she?	⇒	She	was	in London.
What	was	it?	⇒	It	was	a rat.
Where	were	we?	⇒	We	were	at the beach.
How	were	they?	⇒	They	were	great.

Now try the quiz below!