THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE WITH “BE”

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE WITH “BE”

The verb “be” is different from the other verbs in this tense. Let's look at “be” first:

Here's the positive form (positive means a normal sentence, not a negative or a question. This is sometimes called “affirmative”).

SUB + BE (AM, IS, ARE)+ SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT

POSITIVE	POSITIVE SHORT FORM
I am a student.	I'm a student.
You are teachers.	You're teachers.
He is a tour guide.	He's a tour guide.
She is a seller.	She's seller.
It is my dog.	It's my dog.
We are in class.	We're in class.
They are happy.	They're happy.

Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add “not”.

SUB + BE (AM, IS, ARE) + NOT + SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT

NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE SHORT FORM
I am not at home.	I'm not at home.
You are not at work.	You aren't at work.
He is not sad.	He isn't sad.
She is not sleepy.	She isn't sleepy.
It is not my house.	It isn't my house.
We are not in the garden.	We aren't in the garden.
They are not my children.	They aren't my children.

And finally let's talk about the question form of the present simple with “be”.

Firstly, here's the “yes / no” question form:

BE (AM, IS, ARE) + SUB + SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT?

YES / NO QUESTIONS

Am I a doctor?

Are you married?

Is he in the room?

Is she at work?

Is it a cat?

Are we in the office?

Are they at school?

If you'd like to make a “wh” question, you just put the question word at the front:

WH-WORD + BE (AM, IS, ARE) + SUB + (SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT?)

WH QUESTIONS
Where	am I ?
What	are you ?
Why	is he ?
Who	is she ?
When	are we ?
How	are they ?

Click here to download the full lesson explanation and to do the exercises