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Elementary - To be

Monday, 08 June 2009
He is happy. He is happy. Man image created by Asier_relampagoestudio - Freepik.com

English grammar lesson on-line for elementary level students - An explanation of the verb 'to be' with audio explanation and printable exercises.

The verb 'to be' is an exception. It is the most irregular verb in English and has its own rules for the Negative and Question form.

Positive

I am happy.
He/She/It is

We/You/They

are

Positive - Contracted Form

I 'm from Italy.
He/She/It 's

We/You/They

're

Negative

I am not 23 years old.
He/She/It is not

We/You/They

are not

Negative - Contracted Form

I 'm not sad.
He/She/It isn't

We/You/They

aren't

Question Form

For the creation of the question form we invert the verb and the subject.

Am I Russian?
Is He/She/It
Are We/You/They

Short Answers

Yes, I am. (not Yes, I'm)
Yes, you are. (not Yes, you're)
Yes, he/she/it is (not Yes, he/she/it's)
Yes, we are (not Yes, we're)
Yes, they are (not Yes, they're)

No, I am not. or No I'm not.
No, you are not or No, you're not or No, you aren't
No, he/she/it is not or No he/she/it's not. or No, he/she/it isn't.
No, we are not.or No, we're not. or No, we aren't.
No, they are not. or No, they're not. or No, they aren't.

Media

To be English Power (C) 2010
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Last modified on Monday, 25 September 2017 12:32
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