To Be
The verb to be is a special verb in English that is used to describe the existence or identity of someone or something. It can also be used to indicate a temporary state or condition. In English, the verb to be is conjugated differently based on the subject of the sentence.
Here is a table to show the conjugation of the verb to be with different pronouns:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| I | am | are |
| You | are | are |
| He/She/It | is | is |
| We | are | are |
| They | are | are |
And here is a table to show the conjugation of the verb to be with different nouns:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| (a noun) | is | are |
For example:
- I am a student.
- She is a teacher.
- The book is on the table.
- Three pencils are on the desk.
The verb to be can also be used in the construction there is/are to indicate the existence of something. There is is used for singular nouns and there are is used for plural nouns.
For example:
- There is a cat in the room.
- There are two dogs in the park.
Negative forms
Negative sentences with the verb "to be" are formed by adding "not" after the conjugated form of the verb. The negative form of "to be" can be made by adding "not" after "am," "is," or "are."
Here is a table to show the negative conjugation of the verb "to be" with different subjects:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| I | am not | are not |
| You | are not | are not |
| He/She/It | is not | is not |
| We | are not | are not |
| They | are not | are not |
For example:
- I am not a doctor.
- You are not my sister.
- The books are not on the table.
- The cat is not in the room.
Questions
Questions with the verb "to be" are formed by inverting the subject and the conjugated form of the verb. "Is" or "Are" is placed before the subject to form a question.
Here is a table to show the question form of the verb "to be" with different subjects:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| I | Am I | Are we |
| You | Are you | Are you |
| He/She/It | Is he/she/it | Are they |
| We | Are we | Are we |
| They | Are they | Are they |
For example:
- Am I a teacher?
- Is she your mother?
- Are the dogs barking?
- Are the books on the table?
It is important to use the correct form of the verb "to be" based on the subject in the sentence to make your writing grammatically correct.
Correct Answers
The correct form of "to be" is "are" because the subject "The dogs" is third person plural.
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.
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.
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.
The correct form of "to be" is "are" because the subject "She and her friends" is third person plural.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
The correct form of "to be" is "is" because the subject "He" is third person singular.
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.
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.
"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.
The correct form of "to be" is "am" because the subject is "I" which is first person singular.
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.
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.
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".
Questions
- ✅ Do you like coffee? — do-support (no existing auxiliary)
- ✅ Can she swim? — inversion (auxiliary before subject)
- ✅ Where does he live? — wh-question
- ✅ You're coming, aren't you? — tag question
Questions require inversion (auxiliary before subject) or do-support (add do/does/did). Types: yes/no (Do you…?), wh- (What/Where/When…?), negative (Don't you…?), tag (…isn't it?).
Rule: find the auxiliary. Move it before the subject. No auxiliary? Add do/does/did. Never use just intonation in written English (You like coffee? is not standard).
Progressive tense
- ✅ I am working in London. — temporary, happening now
- ✅ I work in London. — permanent/habitual (simple)
- ❌ I am knowing the answer. — stative verb, can't be progressive
- ✅ She was reading when I arrived. — past progressive (in progress at that moment)
The progressive = be + -ing. Marks actions as ongoing, temporary, or in-progress at a reference time. NOT used with stative verbs (know, believe, own, want, like) unless meaning shifts.
Rule: is the action temporary/in-progress right now? → progressive. Is it a permanent fact, habit, or schedule? → simple. Is it a stative verb? → almost never progressive.
Simple tense
- ✅ I go to work every day. — present simple (habit)
- ✅ She went home yesterday. — past simple (completed action)
- ✅ I will call you later. — future simple (promise/decision)
- ✅ Water boils at 100°C. — present simple (general truth)
The simple aspect is the default, unmarked verb form. Present simple = habits, facts, schedules. Past simple = completed actions. Future simple = predictions, promises, decisions. No auxiliary needed (except will for future and do for questions/negatives).
Rule: if the action is a fact, habit, completed event, or scheduled future — and you don't need to emphasise it being in-progress or connected to now → simple tense.
Past tense
- I walked home. — simple past (completed action)
- I was walking when it rained. — past progressive (in progress)
- I had already left when she arrived. — past perfect (earlier past)
- I had been waiting for an hour. — past perfect progressive (duration up to a past point)
Four past tense forms: simple past (done), past progressive (was happening), past perfect (had already happened), past perfect progressive (had been happening). Each encodes different timing relative to other past events.
Pattern: simple past = the story's main timeline. Past progressive = background action. Past perfect = flashback to something even earlier.
Present tense
- I work here. — simple present (habit/permanent)
- I am working now. — present progressive (happening right now)
- I have lived here for 10 years. — present perfect (started past, still true)
- I have been waiting for an hour. — present perfect progressive (duration up to now)
Four present tense forms: simple (habits/facts), progressive (now/temporary), perfect (past → present relevance), perfect progressive (ongoing duration). Each encodes a different relationship between the action and the present moment.
Trap: "I am living here for 10 years" ❌ — started in the past + still true = present PERFECT (have lived/have been living), not progressive.
Modal verb
- ✅ She can swim. — ❌ She can to swim. (modal + bare infinitive, no to)
- ✅ You must leave now. — strong obligation
- ✅ It might rain. — possibility (~50%)
- ✅ He should apologise. — advice/recommendation
Modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) are auxiliaries expressing ability, permission, possibility, obligation, or speculation. Always + bare infinitive. Never inflected (she can, not she cans).
Rule: modals never take to after them, never add -s for third person, and can't combine directly (must can ❌ — use must be able to).
Be
- ✅ I am tired. / She is tired. / They are tired. — present
- ✅ I was tired. / They were tired. — past
- ✅ She is running. — auxiliary for progressive
- ✅ It was broken. — auxiliary for passive
Be has 8 forms (am/is/are/was/were/be/being/been) — the most irregular verb in English. Two jobs: copula linking subject to complement (She is a doctor) and auxiliary for progressive and passive.
Trap: be changes for person AND number in both present and past. No other English verb does this. Learn the grid: I am / you are / he is / we are + I was / you were / he was / we were.
Person
- 1st person: I work / We work — the speaker(s)
- 2nd person: You work — the addressee(s)
- 3rd person: She works / They work — everyone else
- ❌ She work — missing third-person singular -s
Grammatical person = who's speaking (1st: I/we), who's being spoken to (2nd: you), everyone else (3rd: he/she/it/they). Modern English marks it only with third-person singular present -s.
Rule: third person singular + present tense = add -s to the verb (she goes, he tries, it works). This is the only person-marking English still has on verbs.
Countable and uncountable
- ✅ some advice — ❌ an advice / advices (uncountable → no article, no plural)
- ✅ a piece of furniture — ❌ a furniture / furnitures
- ✅ How much water? — ❌ How many water? (uncountable → much)
- ✅ fewer people — ❌ less people (countable plural → fewer)
English nouns are either countable (take a/an, form plurals, use many/few) or uncountable (no plural, use much/little). The choice is partly arbitrary and must be memorised.
Test: can you put a number in front? Three chairs → countable. Three furnitures ❌ → uncountable. Use a unit phrase instead: three pieces of furniture.
Grammatical number
- ✅ The data show… — ❌ The data shows… (traditionally plural)
- ✅ Each student has a book. — ❌ Each student have a book. (each = singular)
- ✅ The team is ready. (BrE: are also fine) — collective noun
- ✅ children, mice, teeth — irregular plurals (no -s)
Grammatical number = singular vs plural on nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Nouns usually add -(e)s; verbs must agree with their subject's number.
Trap: collective nouns (team, staff, data), quantifiers (each, every = singular; both, several = plural), and irregular plurals (children, criteria, phenomena) all cause agreement errors.
Pronoun
- ✅ between you and me — ❌ between you and I (objective case after preposition)
- ✅ its colour — ❌ it's colour (it's = it is)
- ✅ She did it herself. — reflexive pronoun
- ✅ The person who called… — relative pronoun
Pronouns replace nouns: personal (I/me/my), demonstrative (this/that), relative (who/which/that), interrogative (who?/what?), reflexive (myself), indefinite (everyone/nobody). They carry case that nouns have lost.
Trap: pronouns are where English case still matters: I vs me, who vs whom, its vs it's. Get these wrong and it's instantly noticeable.
Noun
- The cat sat on the mat. — concrete nouns (things you can touch)
- Happiness is important. — abstract noun (idea/quality)
- London is beautiful. — proper noun (specific name, capitalised)
- I need some information. — uncountable noun (no a/an, no plural)
A noun names a person, place, thing, idea, or quality. Nouns determine article choice, verb agreement, and pronoun reference. Types: common/proper, concrete/abstract, countable/uncountable.
Test: can you put the or a before it? Can you make it plural? If yes to either → it's functioning as a noun.
Verb
- walk → walk / walks / walked / walked / walking (5 forms, regular)
- go → go / goes / went / gone / going (5 forms, irregular)
- be → am/is/are/was/were/be/being/been (8 forms)
- can → can / could (modal: only 2 forms, no -s, no -ing)
A verb is the one word class every English sentence requires. Carries tense (when), aspect (duration), mood (attitude), and voice (active/passive). Regular verbs add -ed; ~200 irregular verbs have unpredictable past forms.
Key insight: fix your verbs and most grammar problems disappear. Wrong tense, wrong agreement, wrong form — verb errors account for the majority of grammatical mistakes.
Conjunction
- ✅ I was tired, but I stayed. — coordinating (links two equal clauses)
- ✅ I stayed because I was needed. — subordinating (introduces dependent clause)
- ✅ Although it rained, we went out. — subordinating (front position)
- ❌ I was tired, because. — incomplete (subordinating conjunction needs a clause after it)
Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses. Coordinating (and, but, or, so, yet, for, nor) join equals; subordinating (because, although, if, when, while) introduce dependent clauses.
Pattern: coordinating = equal partners, same grammatical weight. Subordinating = one clause depends on the other for its meaning.
Negation
- ✅ I don't see anything. — ❌ I don't see nothing. (double negative in standard English)
- ✅ She never goes out. — never already negates (no doesn't needed)
- ✅ He doesn't like coffee. — do-support for negation
- ✅ Nobody came. — negative subject (no auxiliary needed)
Negation uses not after an auxiliary/modal, or do-support when there's no auxiliary. One negative per clause in standard English — never, nobody, nothing already negate without adding not.
Rule: one negative element per clause. I don't see anything or I see nothing — never both together in standard English.
English Grammar Basics
- She is a teacher. — verb be + noun complement
- He runs every day. — present simple, third-person -s
- They don't like coffee. — negation with do-support
- I have two cats. — possession, countable noun, no article before plurals
These sentences demonstrate English Grammar Basics — the foundational patterns every other topic builds on: parts of speech, basic tenses, articles, and simple sentence structure.
If you can identify the verb, the subject, and count the noun correctly, you've nailed the basics that make everything else click.
A1 | Elementary | Beginners
- ✅ My name is Anna. — present simple of be
- ✅ Where is the station? — basic *wh-*question
- ✅ I have two brothers. — possession with have
- ✅ She likes coffee. — third-person -s
These are A1 sentences — the starting level of the CEFR framework. At A1 you can introduce yourself, ask and answer simple personal questions, and handle basic everyday transactions using present tense, be/have/do, and core vocabulary.
If you can say these but freeze at normal speaking speed, you're solidly A1 — and that's exactly where to start.
Easy
- She is a teacher. — one verb form, one rule
- I have two cats. — basic possession, short sentence
- He doesn't like coffee. — simple negation with do-support
- Only one answer is clearly correct; distractors are obviously wrong.
Easy marks beginner-level challenges: A1–early A2, one rule at a time, everyday vocabulary, no trick questions.
Use "Easy" when you want to build confidence on a specific rule without interference from other grammar or tricky contexts.