Lesson 15. The Complete Guide to Verb TO BE in English

The verb to be is probably one of the most irregular verbs in English. It does need more attention as we use the verb to be so much often in sentences. Let’s master the verb to be today!

 

Simple Present Tense

(Click on the subtitle to learn more about simple present tense)

Positive	Positive (Contracted)	Negative	Negative (Contracted)	Question
I am	I’m	I am not	I’m not	Am I?
You are	You’re	You are not	You’re not You aren’t	Are you?
We are	We’re	We are not	We’re not We aren’t	Are we?
They are	They’re	They are not	They’re not They aren’t	Are they?
He is	He’s	He is not	He’s not He isn’t	Is he?
She is	She’s	She is not	She’s not She isn’t	Is she?
It is	It’s	It is not	It’s not It isn’t	Is it?

Note:

– The only possible contraction form of ‘I am not’ is only ‘I’m not’.

– There is no contracted form of the verb to be in question form.

 

Simple Past Tense

Positive	Negative	Negative (Contracted)	Question
I was	I was not	I wasn’t	Was I?
You were	You were not	You weren’t	Were you?
We were	We were not	We weren’t	Were we?
They were	They were not	They weren’t	Were they?
He was	He was not	He wasn’t	Was he?
She was	She was not	She wasn’t	Was she?
It was	It was not	It wasn’t	Was it?

Note: There are no contracted form of the verb to be in positive and question forms.

 

Present Continuous Tense

Positive	Positive (Contracted)	Negative	Negative (Contracted)	Question
I am + V(ing)	I’m + V(ing)	I am not + V(ing)	I’m not + V(ing)	Am I + V(ing)?
You are + V(ing)	You’re + V(ing)	You are not + V(ing)	You’re not + V(ing) You aren’t + V(ing)	Are you + V(ing)?
We are + V(ing)	We’re + V(ing)	We are not + V(ing)	We’re not + V(ing) We aren’t + V(ing)	Are we + V(ing)?
They are + V(ing)	They’re + V(ing)	They are not + V(ing)	They’re not + V(ing) They aren’t + V(ing)	Are they + V(ing)?
He is + V(ing)	He’s + V(ing)	He is not + V(ing)	He’s not + V(ing) He isn’t + V(ing)	Is he + V(ing)?
She is + V(ing)	She’s + V(ing)	She is not + V(ing)	She’s not + V(ing) She isn’t + V(ing)	Is she + V(ing)?
It is + V(ing)	It’s + V(ing)	It is not + V(ing)	It’s not + V(ing) It isn’t + V(ing)	Is it + V(ing)?

Note: V(ing) means base verb with additional –ing.

 

Past Continuous Tense

Positive	Negative	Negative (Contracted)	Question
I was + V(ing)	I was not + V(ing)	I wasn’t + V(ing)	Was I + V(ing)?
You were + V(ing)	You were not + V(ing)	You weren’t + V(ing)	Were you + V(ing)?
We were + V(ing)	We were not + V(ing)	We weren’t + V(ing)	Were we + V(ing)?
They were + V(ing)	They were not + V(ing)	They weren’t + V(ing)	Were they + V(ing)?
He was + V(ing)	He was not + V(ing)	He wasn’t + V(ing)	Was he + V(ing)?
She was + V(ing)	She was not + V(ing)	She wasn’t + V(ing)	Was she + V(ing)?
It was + V(ing)	It was not + V(ing)	It wasn’t + V(ing)	Was it + V(ing)?

Note: V(ing) means base verb with additional –ing.

 

Present Perfect Tense

Positive	Positive (Contracted)	Negative	Negative (Contracted)	Question
I have been	I’ve been	I have not been	I haven’t been	Have I been?
You have been	You’ve been	You have not been	You haven’t been	Have you been?
We have been	We’ve been	We have not been	We haven’t been	Have we been?
They have been	They’ve been	They have not been	They haven’t been	Have they been?
He has been	He’s been	He has not been	He hasn’t been	Has he been?
She has been	She’s been	She has not been	She hasn’t been	Has she been?
It has been	It’s been	It has not been	It hasn’t been	Has it been?

 

Past Perfect Tense

Positive	Positive (Contracted)	Negative	Negative (Contracted)	Question
I had been	I’d been	I had not been	I hadn’t been	Had I been?
You had been	You’d been	You had not been	You hadn’t been	Had you been?
We had been	We’d been	We had not been	We hadn’t been	Had we been?
They had been	They’d been	They had not been	They hadn’t been	Had they been?
He had been	He’d been	He had not been	He hadn’t been	Had he been?
She had been	She’d been	She had not been	She hadn’t been	Had she been?
It had been	It’d been	It had not been	It hadn’t been	Had it been?

Note: The structure of the verb to be in past perfect tense is regular: Subject + Had + Been.

 

Simple Yes/No Questions

As you may have noticed on the above tables, we can easily form a simple yes/no question by inverting ‘the subject’ and ‘the verb to be’. Examples:

Positive: They are Chinese.

Question: Are they Chinese?

 

Positive: She was a nurse three years ago.

Question: Was she a nurse three years ago?

 

To answer the question, we can use the following:

Positive Answer: Yes, they are (Yes, they’re).

Negative Answer: No, they are not (No, they’re not or No, they aren’t).

 

Positive Answer: Yes, she was.

Negative Answer: No, she was not (No, she wasn’t).

 

Please note that you need to exchange the subject ‘you’ become ‘I’ when answering the question.

Question: Are you a dog lover?

Positive Answer: Yes, I am.

Negative Answer: No. I am not (No, I’m not).

 

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