UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
ENGLISH I
UNIT III: Simple Present
WEEK # 4: March 31 st to April 4 th 2025
PRESENTATION # 13
Content: 3.1 Be forms: Am, is are. Affirmative, Negative, and Interrogatives
Achievement indicator:
The students will be able to learn the forms of am, is, are in affirmative, negative, and
interrogative sentences, demonstrating mastery of these forms through contextual
application and grammatical accuracy.
Evaluation criteria:
Conceptual:
To identify the use of "am, is, are" and its proper placement by explaining how subject-
verb agreement affects sentence structure.
Procedural:
To change simple affirmative sentences into negative and interrogative forms by applying
the right structure and word order
Attitudinal:
To demonstrates curiosity in exploring different ways to form sentences, asking questions
or experimenting by testing their understanding of the rules
The Verb “To Be”
1
A verb is a word that defines “an action or state of being.” The irregular verb to be is the
most complicated of all the English verbs—and it just so happens to be the most used.
The verb to be is used to describe that state of existence of people, things, places, and
ideas. To be is a unique verb because it has three forms in the present tense and two forms
in the simple past:
Infinitive be
I am, he/she/it is,
Present we/you/they are
Simple I/he/she/it was,
past we/you/they were
Present simple – verb 'to be'
We can use the present simple of the verb to be to talk about situations and states in the
present.
I am ten years old.
They are Egyptian.
My mum is a doctor.
Form of the verb
"Am" is used for first person singular subjects, such as "I"
"Is" is used for third person singular subjects, such as "he," "she," or "it"
"Are" is used for all other subjects, such as "you," "we," or "they"
Afirmative sentences, and contraction forms:
To Be – Contractions:
Contractions of To Be are very frequent when we are speaking.
To Be Contraction Examples
I am I'm I'm from New Zealand.
You are You're You're Chilean.
He is He's He's twenty years old.
2
She is She's She's a nurse.
It is It's It's a big dog.
We are We're We're intelligent.
You are You're You're students.
They
They're They're married.
are
To Be - Negative Sentences
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb.
Subjec
To Be Examples
t
I am not I am not from Spain.
You are not You are not Australian.
He is not He is not thirty years old.
She is not She is not a secretary.
It is not It is not a small cat.
We are not We are not stupid.
You are not You are not teachers.
They are not They are not single.
To Be - Negative Contractions
There are two ways of forming contractions of To Be in negative sentences. One is with a
contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I am = I'm) OR a contraction of
the verb and not (e.g. are not = aren't)
I'm not from Spain. --- --------------*
You're not Australian. O You aren't Australian.
3
R
O
He's not thirty years old. He isn't thirty years old.
R
O
She's not a secretary. She isn't a secretary.
R
O
It's not a small cat. It isn't a small cat.
R
O
We're not stupid. We aren't stupid.
R
O
You're not teachers. You aren't teachers.
R
O
They're not single. They aren't single.
R
* Notice that the only possible contraction for I am not is I'm not.
For questions, change the order of am, is or are and the person.
Are you Brazilian? Yes, I am.
Are they students? No, they're not.
Where is your brother?
To Be - Questions
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.
Affirmativ
You are happy.
e
Subjec
Verb
t
Question Are you happy?
4
Subjec
Verb
t
Affirmative Question
I am intelligent. Am I intelligent?
You are a
Are you a student?
student.
He is a pilot. Is he a pilot?
She is from Spain. Is she from Spain?
It is a big house. Is it a big house?
We are ready. Are we ready?
You are doctors. Are you doctors?
They are rich. Are they rich?
To Be - Short Answers
In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.
Are you a student? - Yes, I am (a student). The last part (a student) is not necessary. We
use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.
Question Short Answers** Short Answers
Am I intelligent? Yes, you are. No, you aren't.
Are you a
Yes, I am. No, I am not.
student?
5
Is he a pilot? Yes, he is. No, he isn't.
Is she from Spain? Yes, she is. No, she isn't.
Is it a big house? Yes, it is. No, it isn't.
Are we ready? Yes, we are. No, we aren't.
Are you doctors? Yes, we are. No, we aren't.
Are they rich? Yes, they are. No, they aren't.
** With To Be, We don't use contractions in affirmative short answers unless there is
additional information after it (in which case they are no longer considered short answers).
EXERCISES: COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE FORMS OF TO BE IN THE PRESENT
SIMPLE (AM, IS, ARE).
1. I____________ at home.
2. She ___________ not at home in the morning.
3. We ______________ in the park.
4. This __________ my new laptop.
5. Our friends______________ on their summer holidays.
6. Uncle George_____________ a good football player.
7. The dog________________ under the table.
8. He ________________ very funny.
9. The shoes____________ white.
10. You _____________ right.
[Link] THE GAPS WITH THE NEGATIVE FORMS OF THE VERB TO BE (AM NOT, IS NOT,
ARE NOT).
1 She ____ my best friend.
am not
isn't
aren't
2 I ____ happy.
am not
is not
6
are not
3 My grandmother ____ 80 years old.
am not
is not
are not
4 My uncle ____ in Japan.
am not
isn't
aren't
5 Our new car ____ red.
am not
isn't
aren't
6 Peter and Tom ____ bus drivers.
am not
is not
are not
7 It ____ a small house.
am not
isn't
aren't
8 Peter and I ____ tired.
am not
is not
are not
III. WRITE 7 AFIRMATIVE SENTENCES USING TO BE USING AM IS ARE.
7
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