A1 · Beginner

The Verb Be in English: Am, Is, Are (A1)

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Be is the first verb every English learner needs and the one that behaves least like the others. This lesson gives you am, is and are in full — statements, negatives, questions and the contractions native speakers actually use.

Be is the first verb in every English course and the last one learners stop making mistakes with. It is the verb you need to say who you are, where you are, how you feel and what the weather is doing, which means it appears in roughly one English sentence in ten. It is also the only verb in the language with three different present forms, and the only one that makes its own negatives and questions without help.

That irregularity is not a cruelty of English so much as a symptom of age. Be is one of the oldest words in the language and it was worn into its present shape by centuries of daily use, in the same way that the most common verbs in Spanish, German and Russian are also the most irregular ones. The practical consequence is that be has to be memorised rather than derived — but there are only three forms, and every learner who has ever reached A2 has managed it.

Two habits from other languages cause most of the trouble here. The first is leaving be out altogether: many languages allow He tired or She a doctor, and English does not. The second is stating age and hunger with have — I have thirty years, I have hunger — which is correct in French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish and wrong in English. Both errors are predictable, which means both are fixable with deliberate practice rather than more exposure.

How to form The Verb Be

The three present forms of be, with the contractions you will actually hear.
Subject	Positive	Negative	Question
I	I am (I'm)	I am not (I'm not)	Am I…?
you	you are (you're)	you are not (you aren't)	Are you…?
he / she / it	he is (he's)	he is not (he isn't)	Is he…?
we	we are (we're)	we are not (we aren't)	Are we…?
they	they are (they're)	they are not (they aren't)	Are they…?

The Verb Be: the key rules

Be has three present forms and each subject takes exactly one: I am, he/she/it is, you/we/they are.

I am ready. She is a nurse. They are at home.
To make a negative, add not after be — never do or does.

I am not tired. He is not French. We are not late.
To ask a question, put be in front of the subject. Nothing else moves.

Are you a student? Is she your sister?
Short answers repeat be, and the positive one is never contracted.

Yes, I am. / No, I'm not. Yes, she is. / No, she isn't.
English needs be where many languages leave a gap — with ages, jobs, feelings and the weather.

I am 25. She is a teacher. It is cold today.

When to use The Verb Be

Identity and jobs

Saying who someone is, or what they do for a living. English always needs an article before the job as well as the verb.

I am Marco. She is a software developer.
Age

English gives ages with be, where many European languages use have. Years old is optional but common.

My daughter is seven. I am thirty-two years old.
Feelings and physical states

Hungry, thirsty, cold, tired, afraid and similar states are adjectives in English, so they need be.

I'm hungry. They are tired after the flight.
Place and origin

Where somebody or something is now, and where they come from.

The keys are on the table. He is from Poland.
The weather and the time

Fixed patterns beginning with it, where it does not refer to anything in particular.

It is cold today. It is half past nine.
Description

Joining a noun to an adjective — the single most common sentence pattern a beginner produces.

The film was long. Her flat is very small.

be vs. the ordinary verbs

Nearly every mistake with be comes from treating it like an ordinary verb, or treating an ordinary verb like be. The two behave differently in exactly two places: the negative and the question.

be — makes its own forms

Add not for the negative. Move be in front of the subject for the question. No auxiliary is used or allowed.

She is not ready. Is she ready?

other verbs — need do / does

Add don't or doesn't for the negative and put do or does at the front for the question. The main verb stays in its base form.

She does not work here. Does she work here?

The Verb Be in example sentences

I'm a student at the university in Lisbon.am with I, and the job-style noun still takes a.
My parents are both retired now.A plural subject takes are.
It isn't very warm in here, is it?isn't with it, and the tag question repeats be.
Are your children at school today?Question form: are moves in front of the subject.
She's twenty-nine and her brother is thirty-four.Age with be, not with have.
We aren't ready yet — the taxi is early.Two clauses, two different forms of be.
Am I late for the meeting?The one question form with no contraction available in the positive.
There is a problem with the booking.There + is introduces existence; the noun after it decides is or are.

The Verb Be in a real conversation

A first meeting is almost entirely made of be. Count the forms as you read — there are fifteen in six lines.

Nadia:Hi, I'm Nadia. Are you the new teacher?

Sam:Yes, I am. I'm Sam. Is this the staff room?

Nadia:It is. The coffee is terrible but it's free.

Sam:That's fine. Are the classes big here?

Nadia:They aren't huge — about fifteen students. Where are you from?

Sam:I'm from Cork, but my family isn't Irish. They're Spanish.

Common mistakes (and how to fix them)

I have 30 years.

I am 30 years old.

English states age with be, not with have — a direct translation from French, Spanish or Turkish produces the wrong verb here.
She no is my friend.

She is not my friend.

The negative word goes after be, never before it.
Do you are ready?

Are you ready?

Be makes its own questions by moving. Adding do is one auxiliary too many.
He very tired.

He is very tired.

A sentence with no other verb still needs be — English does not allow a bare adjective as a predicate.

Practise The Verb Be today

Be is learned by production, not by reading a table. Every step below asks you to make sentences that are true about you.

Write six sentences about yourself using I am — your name, age, job, city, nationality and how you feel right now.
Rewrite all six as negatives, then as questions addressed to someone else.
Describe four people you know, one sentence each, using is or are correctly.
Answer these out loud with short answers: Are you tired? Is it cold today? Am I right? Are your friends here?
Say the six contractions until they are automatic: I'm, you're, he's, she's, we're, they're.

The Verb Be: frequently asked questions

What is the difference between am, is and are?

They are the same verb with three different subjects. Am belongs to I and nothing else. Is belongs to he, she, it and any singular noun — my brother, the car, this book. Are belongs to you, we, they and any plural noun. There is no meaning difference at all between them; the choice is purely grammatical agreement, which is why it can be memorised rather than understood.

Why do we say I am hungry and not I have hunger?

Because English treats hungry, thirsty, cold, hot, tired, afraid and right as adjectives describing a state, and an adjective needs be. French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish treat several of these as nouns you possess, which produces the very common I have hunger and I have thirty years. The English pattern is always be plus adjective, and the fastest way to fix it is to learn those six or seven adjectives as a set.

When can I use contractions like I'm and she's?

In speech always, and in writing whenever the tone is neutral or informal — messages, emails to colleagues, most everyday writing. Only formal academic or legal writing avoids them. The one restriction that matters is in short answers: you can say Yes, she is but never Yes, she's, because a contraction cannot end an English clause. The negative short answer contracts normally: No, she isn't.

Is it he isn't or he's not?

Both are correct and both are common. He isn't contracts the verb and not together; he's not contracts the subject and verb and leaves not separate. British English uses isn't slightly more often, and he's not carries a little more emphasis on the negative. With I there is only one option — I'm not — because amn't does not exist in standard English.

Do I need be in every English sentence?

No, only when there is no other verb doing the work. She works here has a real verb and needs no be. She is a nurse has no other verb, so be has to supply one. The test is simple: if your sentence would otherwise contain no verb at all, be is missing and the sentence is not yet English.