To be: am, is, are
To be has three present forms: I am, he is, we are. English also uses it where Dutch says ‘hebben’ (to have): I am hungry.
You can start right here: nothing needed first.
Why
You get off the ferry in Dover and someone asks: Are you OK? What do you answer?
Your first English sentences are almost always about who you are, how old you are, where you are and how you feel. For that you need to be: I am Lotte. I am twelve. I am from Belgium. I am tired.
In a gaming chat you read it all the time too: Are you ready? I'm here. We are late. Once you know am, is and are well, you can join in straight away.
See it
Pick a subject and a type of sentence. See which form of to be goes with it, with the short form, the negative and the question.
Description of the picture
A row of buttons with the subjects I, you, he, she, it, we and they, and buttons for an ordinary sentence, a negative and a question. In the middle is a sentence such as He is at home, with the short form He's at home. I goes with am; he, she and it go with is; you, we and they go with are.
Get it
In the present, to be has three forms. I goes with am. He, she and it (and one person or thing, like Tom or the dog) go with is. You, we and they (and more than one person, like Tom and Emma) go with are.
In conversations and messages you nearly always use the short form: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're. The apostrophe takes the place of the letter that drops out.
To make it negative, put not after the form of to be: I'm not, she isn't, they aren't. To make a question, put the form of to be first: Are you hungry? You do not need do for that.
People often answer a question briefly: Yes, I am. or No, I'm not. In a short answer with yes you use the long form: Yes, I am, never Yes, I'm.
Watch out: where Dutch says ‘hebben’ (to have), English sometimes says to be. ‘Ik ben twaalf’ is I am twelve. ‘Ik heb honger’ is I am hungry. ‘Ik heb het koud’ is I am cold. ‘Hij heeft gelijk’ is he is right.
I am, he/she/it is, you/we/they are. Negative with not after it, a question with the form first. Age, being hungry, thirsty, cold and right all go with to be.
Examples to listen to
I'm twelve and I'm from Ghent.
You give your age with to be, without years. You can also say twelve years old.
My brother is hungry.
‘Ik heb honger’ becomes I am hungry. One person, so is.
We aren't late.
Aren't is the short form of are not.
Are they at the station?
A question: the form of to be comes first.
Yes, she is.
A short answer ends with the long form: not Yes, she's.
It's cold in Dover today.
For the weather and the time you start with it.
Worked example
Turn it into a question and give a short negative answer: Sam and Lily are in London.
The subject is Sam and Lily: two people, so are.
Put are first to make a question: Are Sam and Lily in London?
In the short answer you replace the names with they: No, they aren't.
- Answer
Are Sam and Lily in London? No, they aren't.
Do it
Pick a level. You get a new exercise every time, checked straight away.
Pitfalls
Wrong: I have twelve years.
In English you do not have your age, you are it. Years without old sounds odd too.
Right: I am twelve. or I am twelve years old.
Wrong: I have hunger.
Being hungry, thirsty, cold, hot and right all go with to be and an adjective.
Right: I am hungry. I am thirsty. I am cold. You are right.
Wrong: Do you are tired?
With to be you do not need do. You simply put the form of to be first.
Right: Are you tired?
Wrong: Yes, I'm.
A short answer cannot end with a short form.
Right: Yes, I am. (With no it is fine: No, I'm not.)
In real life
- At passport control in Dover someone asks Are you on a school trip? You answer: Yes, we are. We're from Belgium.
- In an online game your teammate types are u ready? You type back: Yes, I'm ready.
- In a letter to your pen friend in Manchester you write: My name is Noor. I'm twelve and I'm in the first year.
History
To be is a very old verb. Its forms come from several old verbs that were used together in Old English, more than a thousand years ago. That is why am, is, are, was and be look so different from each other. Dutch does the same: ‘ben’, ‘is’, ‘was’ and ‘zijn’.
At the table
Play Who am I? Someone thinks of an animal. The others ask questions with Are you...?, such as Are you big? or Are you brown? You may only answer Yes, I am. or No, I'm not.
Something to do or talk about together, for parents and children. Mistakes are fine.