Study materials
Look at these sentences in Ukrainian. There is no verb in them at all, and nobody minds.
She is a doctor.
They are at home.
I am tired.
An English sentence without a verb does not exist. So where Ukrainian stays silent, English puts in be. It is the most used verb in English.
The three forms of be
In the present, be has three forms, and they are handed out once and for all.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | am | I am ready. |
| he, she, it | is | She is at work. |
| you, we, they | are | We are late. |
The form depends on the subject, the person or thing the sentence is about. The subject answers “who?” or “what?”. When the subject is not a pronoun, a short word standing in for a name (I, she, they), but an ordinary word or a name, swap it for a pronoun in your head. One person or thing becomes he, she or it, several become they, and you together with someone else become we.
My sister is at school.
My parents are at work.
Max and I are friends.
Several people or things take are even when the word has no s, like children or people. And you always takes are, even when you speak to one person.
People are so kind here.
You are my hero.
Things become it in English, even though Ukrainian calls them “he” or “she”. A phone, a soup and a city are all it, and they take is. Animals are usually it as well.
Where is my phone? It is on the sofa.
Anything can follow be: a quality, a job, an age, a city, a place. That is why the verb turns up so often.
Ben is twenty.
We are from Kyiv.
The soup is hot.
Age is given with be too, never with have. Ukrainian says “to me twenty”, but in English the person is the subject. Years old can be added or left out.
I am twenty.
My grandma is eighty years old.
Feelings work the same way. Ukrainian says “to me cold” or “to me sad”, but in English the person is the subject, followed by be.
I am cold.
We are hungry.
Do not mix up I am cold and It is cold. The first is about you, the second about the weather or a room. In the second, it means nothing and is not translated. It only fills the subject's place.
It is cold today.
The job of one person takes the short word a in front of it. It is called an article, and it has a topic of its own.
My uncle is a pilot.
Short forms
In conversation the full forms are hardly ever heard. Contractions take their place, and they are worth learning first.
I'm here. He's busy. They're outside.
The meaning does not change. The full form is kept for official writing, or when you are stressing something in particular.
The apostrophe stands where a letter dropped out. Am loses its a, is loses its i, and are loses its a too. That is why it is I'm and never I'am.
I am → I'm, she is → she's, it is → it's, they are → they're
Some short forms sound exactly like other words. Its with no apostrophe means belonging to it, as in its colour. Their means belonging to them, and there means in that place. Only it's and they're are short forms of be.
It's my phone.
They're my friends.
How to make a negative
To make be negative, put not right after it. Nothing else is needed.
He isn't here.
We aren't late.
I'm not busy.
Am not has no ordinary contraction, so people say I'm not. He isn't and he's not are equally correct, so take whichever you like.
Do and does are not needed here. Don't and doesn't make an action negative, like swim or work, and be does without them.
She doesn't swim.
She isn't sad.
How to make a question
To make a question, the form of be simply moves to the start. No helper needs to be added.
Are you ready?
Is Tom at work?
Where are they?
When a question starts with a question word, like where, who, what, how old or what colour, that word comes first. Then comes the form of be, and then the subject. In a question about where someone comes from, from moves to the very end.
Where are you from?
How old is your cat?
Who is that girl?
Answers are short and repeat the same form. In a positive answer it is not contracted.
Yes, I am. No, he isn't.
A no answer can be shortened, because not follows be. So No, he isn't is fine, but instead of Yes, he's people say Yes, he is.
Common mistakes
The first is calling in do where be is already there.
She doesn't be cold. → She isn't cold.
The second is dropping be the way Ukrainian does.
Where Anna? → Where is Anna?
The third is contracting the form in a short yes answer.
Yes, she's. → Yes, she is.
The first two are caught by one check. If the sentence has no action, it needs a form of be, and then do is not needed. The third shows in a short yes answer, where the form of be is written in full.