Basics. "To be" in Present Tense.: correct answers

How "to be" works in the present

English has one verb that refuses to follow the normal rules: be. Most verbs take at most two forms in the present tense (walk / walks), but be has three: am, is, and are. Which one you use depends entirely on the subject.

Subject	Form
I	am
he / she / it	is
you / we / they	are

That's the whole system. No other verb in English does this, so there's nothing else to memorize, just these three forms matched to their subjects.

What "be" actually does

You reach for be whenever you want to link a subject to a description, an identity, or a state, not an action.

✅ She is a software engineer. ❌ She are a software engineer.

✅ I am tired after the meeting. ❌ I is tired after the meeting.

Notice that there's no "doing" in either sentence. Nobody is running, cooking, or deciding anything. The verb simply connects the subject (she, I) to what follows (a software engineer, tired). That connecting job is why grammarians call be a linking verb.

You'll also meet be as a helper inside other structures, such as progressive tenses (I am reading) and passives (The door is locked), but in every case, the same am/is/are rule applies to the present.

Contractions and when to skip them

In everyday speech and informal writing, native speakers almost always contract:

I am → I'm
you are → you're
he is → he's
it is → it's

The negative contracts too: is not → isn't, are not → aren't. One odd gap: "amn't" doesn't exist in standard English. Say "I'm not" instead.

✅ I**'m not** ready yet. ❌ I amn't ready yet.

In formal or academic writing, keep the full forms. In a quiz or conversation, contractions are perfectly fine.

The mistakes that actually catch people

1. Mixing up is and are with tricky subjects. When a sentence starts with there, the verb agrees with the noun that comes after it, not with there itself.

✅ There are two problems with this plan. ❌ There is two problems with this plan.

B1–B2 learners often default to there is regardless of number because it sounds natural, and honestly, many native speakers do the same in casual speech. In careful English, though, match the verb to the noun: two problems is plural, so you need are.

2. Dropping "be" entirely. If your first language doesn't use a copula (Russian, Arabic, and many others omit it), you may produce sentences like She tired or They engineers. English always requires the verb:

✅ They are engineers. ❌ They engineers.

3. Confusing it's and its. This isn't strictly a "be" error, but it surfaces constantly when practicing is. It's = it is. Its (no apostrophe) = possessive. If you can expand the word to it is and the sentence still makes sense, use the apostrophe.

✅ It's cold outside. (It is cold outside.) ❌ Its cold outside.

A quick self-test trick

Whenever you write a sentence with be, mentally swap the subject for a pronoun and check the table. "My brother and I" → we → are. "The report" → it → is. If the form matches, you're good. If it doesn't, fix it before moving on. That single habit will eliminate most errors with this verb.

Easy A1 | Elementary | BeginnersA1 Questions Progressive tense Simple tense Past tense Present tense Modal verb Be Person Countable and uncountable Grammatical number Pronoun Noun Verb Conjunction Negation English Grammar Basics

Correct answers

Question 1

What is the correct form of "to be" in the following sentence?

The dogs _________________________ barking.

The correct form of "to be" is "are" because the subject "The dogs" is third person plural.

Question 2

Select am, is or are.

The audience _________________________ incredibly uncomfortable.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

Despite its form, the word audience is plural, known as a collective noun, so the correct answer is are.

Question 3

Select am, is or are.

College athletics _________________________ anything but a big business nowadays.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

Despite its form, the word athletics is singular, so the correct answer is is.

Question 4

Put in am, is or are.

I _________________________ not a loser.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The correct answer is am.

Question 5

What is the correct form of "to be" in the following sentence?

She and her friends _________________________ at the park.

The correct form of "to be" is "are" because the subject "She and her friends" is third person plural.

Question 6

Select am, is or are.

This castle _________________________ very old.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The correct answer is is.

Question 7

Select the correct option.

_________________________ the Sun a star?

"Is" is used in this sentence because it is the present simple form of the verb "to be" and it is used to make a simple present tense statement. In this case, "Am", "Are", and "Be" are not used because they are not the correct form for this tense and context.

Question 8

Select am, is or are.

Deer _________________________ easy prey for hunters.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The word deer is the same for singular and plural, here it is used as plural, so the correct answer is are.

Question 9

Select am, is or are.

Why _________________________ soda so addictive?

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The correct answer is is.

Question 10

What is the correct form of "to be" in the following sentence?

He _________________________ going to the gym now.

The correct form of "to be" is "is" because the subject "He" is third person singular.

Question 11

Select am, is or are.

These _________________________ the stocks that lead S&P 500.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The correct answer is are.

Question 12

Select the correct option.

Why is the cat always in the fridge? Because the cat _________________________ cool.

The correct answer is "is" because the question is in present simple tense and the subject, "the cat," is singular, so the verb "to be" must also be in the present simple form. "Am" is the first person singular form, "are" is the second person singular form, and "was" is the past simple form.

Question 13

Select the correct options. Choose all that apply.

Don't You're feeling no good today.

You not feeling good today.

You aren't feeling good today.

You're not feeling good today.

"You aren't feeling good today" and "You're not feeling good today" are correct because they correctly use the contracted form of the negative verb "to be" ("aren't" and "'re not"). "Don't You're feeling no good today" and "You not feeling good today" are grammatically incorrect.

Question 14

Select the correct form of "to be" in the following sentence?

I _________________________ a student.

The correct form of "to be" is "am" because the subject is "I" which is first person singular.

Question 15

Select am, is or are.

_________________________ the examination difficult?

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The correct answer is Is.

Question 16

Select am, is or are.

But everything is great because I _________________________ on vacation.

Here the verb be is used as link verb in present tense. It has the following forms:

am is used with first person subject,
is is used with third person singular subjects,
are is used with plural subjects.

The correct answer is am.

Question 17

Select the correct options. Choose all that apply.

The cat isn't sad.

The cat not be sad.

The cat is not sad.

The cat don't being sad.

In negative sentences with the present simple tense of "to be", the word "not" is placed immediately after the auxiliary verb "to be". "The cat not be sad" is incorrect because "not be" is not a grammatically correct form. "The cat don't being sad" is incorrect because it uses "don't being" which is not a grammatically correct form of negation with "to be".