Grammar: Be

The verb be is very important in English. Some languages don't have the verb be, but in English, we use it a lot. It's important that you learn this verb.

The verb looks like this:

I am              you are                     he is  she is   it is           we are                they are

We can also put these words together. This is called contraction:

I'm               you're                         he's   she's     it's            we're                  they're


My name is Ryan. I am a teacher. You are a student. We are in Manchester.

Try these exercises to help you:
1. https://elt.oup.com/student/headway/elementary4/grammar/unit01/hwy_elem_unit01_1?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
2. https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/a_grammar/file01/grammar01_a01?cc=us&selLanguage=en
3. https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/a_grammar/file01/grammar01_a02?cc=us&selLanguage=en
4. https://elt.oup.com/student/result/engelem/a_grammar/unit01/1c_1?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
5. https://elt.oup.com/student/result/engelem/a_grammar/unit01/1c_2?cc=gb&selLanguage=en

Sometimes, we want to talk about negative things.

My name isn't John. I am not a student. You are not a teacher. We are not in Liverpool.

The verb looks like this:

I am not        you are not         he is not  she is not  it is not      we are not     they are not

We can also put these words together. This is called contraction:

I'm not         you aren't        he isn't   she isn't   it isn't          we aren't        they aren't

We change the word order to make questions:

am I?         are you?         is he?    is she?     is it?              are we?         are they?

Are you John? No, I'm not. I'm Ryan.
Are we in Liverpool? No, we're not. We are in Manchester.

Try these exercises to help you:

1. https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/a_grammar/file01/grammar01_b01?cc=us&selLanguage=en
2. https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/a_grammar/file01/grammar01_b02?cc=us&selLanguage=en
3. https://elt.oup.com/student/result/engelem/a_grammar/unit01/1d_1?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
4. https://elt.oup.com/student/result/engelem/a_grammar/unit01/1d_2?cc=gb&selLanguage=en

Complete the sentences about yourself:

1. My name _ _ _________________ .
2. I _ _ from ____________________ in ___________________________ .
3. I _ _ ________________ years old.
4. I _ _ a student.
5. My teacher _ _ from _________________________ . His name _ _ _____________________ .