To Be - Affirmative

Subject To Be Examples

I am I am from New Zealand.

You are You are Chilean.
He is He is twenty years old.
She is She is a nurse.
It is It is a big dog.
We are We are intelligent.
You are You are students.
They are They are married.

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.
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 are They're They're married.

To Be - Negative Sentences
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb.

Subject To Be Examples

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 subjectand 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. OR You aren't Australian.
He's not thirty years old. OR He isn't thirty years old.
She's not a secretary. OR She isn't a secretary.
It's not a small cat. OR It isn't a small cat.
We're not stupid. OR We aren't stupid.
You're not teachers. OR You aren't teachers.
They're not single. OR They aren't single.
* Notice that the only possible contraction for I am not is I'm not.

To Be - Questions
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative You are happy.

Subject Verb

Question Are you happy?

Verb Subject

Affirmative Question

I am intelligent. Am I intelligent?
You are a student. Are you a 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 student? Yes, I am. No, I am not.
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).

Summary Chart
Lesson 6.2
To Be
Ser/Estar

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El verbo to be es el verbo ms importante del ingls y al mismo tiempo, el ms complicado. Se utiliza

tanto como un verbo principal como un verbo auxiliar y es irregular en el presente y el pasado.

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

Affirmative (Afirmativo)

Sujeto Presente Simple Forma corta

Im
I am
yo soy/estoy

youre
you are
t eres/ests

hes
he is
l es/est

shes
she is
ella es/est

its
it is
es/est

were
we are
nosotros somos/estamos
 theyre
they are
ellos son/estn

Negative (Negativo)

Sujeto Presente Simple Forma corta

Im not
I am not
yo no soy/estoy

youre not/you arent

you are not
t no eres/ests

hes not/he isnt

he is not
l no es/est

shes not/she isnt

she is not
ella no es/est

its not/it isnt

it is not
no es/est

were not/we arent

we are not
nosotros no somos/estamos

theyre not/they arent

they are not
ellos no son/estn

Interrogative (Interrogativo)

Nota: En preguntas con el verbo to be, el sujeto y el verbo cambian posiciones.

Presente Simple

Am I?
Yo soy/estoy?

Are you?
Tu eres/ests?

Is he?
El es/est?

Is she?
Ella es/est?

Is it?
Es/est?

Are we?
Nosotros somos/estamos?

Are they?
Ellos son/estn?

Uses (Usos)

1. Se utiliza to be como verbo principal para mostrar el estado o las caractersticas de alguien o
algo (como un verbo de estado). Tambin se puede utilizar con las preposiciones de lugar para indicar
donde algo est localizado.

Ejemplos:

Con un sustantivo:
I am a teacher.(Soy profesor.)

You arent a student.( No eres estudiante.)

 Is he a doctor?( l es mdico?)

Con una preposicin de lugar ++ un sitio+:

She is in New York.(Ella est en Nueva York.)

They arent at home.(Ellos no estn en casa.)

Is the book on the table?(El libro est en la mesa?)

Con un adjetivo:
We are happy.(Nosotros estamos contentos.)

He isnt sad.(l no est triste.)

Are you tired?(Ests cansado?)

2. To be se utiliza como un verbo auxiliar para formar el presente continuo y la voz pasiva que
se introducirn en lecciones posteriores. Para ms informacin sobre verbos auxiliares, ver la leccin
de verbos.

3. Para mostrar que algo existe, combinamos is o are con la palabra there. Ver la leccin
de There Be para ms informacin.

4. To be, como muchos otros verbos, puede ser utilizado con una frase preposicional. Ver la
leccin de verbos preposicionales y phrasal verbs.

Prepositions
Las preposiciones

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Las preposiciones son una de las partes del ingls que ms cuesta aprender a los hablantes de lengua
espaola porque la traduccin directa a menudo es imposible. Las preposiciones pueden ser
traducidas de manera distinta segn la situacin o el contexto de su uso. Por ello es recomendable
memorizar las diferentes variaciones y usos dependiendo de si hablamos de preposiciones de lugar,
movimiento o tiempo. Veremos que muchas de las preposiciones se repiten en los diferentes apartados.

Nota: Las preposiciones siempre van seguidas por un sustantivo, no un verbo (excepto en la forma de
gerundio).

In / At / On

Son unas de las preposiciones ms comunes que se pueden usar para indicar lugar o tiempo: in, at y on.

IN

Significado: en, dentro, dentro de

Uso (lugar): Se usa para indicar tanto espacios cerrados como espacios abiertos. Lo utilizamos para
indicar que algo est dentro de una cosa, en un lugar cerrado, o en el interior de algo fsicamente. Sin
embargo, como vemos en los ejemplos, tambin se utiliza para indicar que se est en un lugar
geogrfico.

Ejemplos:
I live in Brighton.(Vivo en Brighton.)

The cat is in the box.(El gato est dentro la caja.)

I found your address in the phone book.(He encontrado tu direccin en la gua telefnica.)

My parents arrive in France on Monday.(Mis padres llegan a Francia el lunes.)

Uso (tiempo): Lo utilizamos con meses, aos, pocas, partes del da y perodos de tiempo.

Ejemplos:
We went to Mexico in May.(Fuimos a Mxico en mayo.)
 I always run in the mornings.(Siempre corro por las maanas.)

I will see him in a week.(Le ver en una semana.)

She was born in 1976.(Naci en 1976.)

AT

Significado: en, a, al, cerca de, tocando

Uso (lugar): Se usa delante de edificios como casas, aeropuertos, universidades, para acontecimientos
como reuniones, fiestas, conciertos, deportes, etc., antes de top (parte superior), bottom (parte
inferior), the end of (al final de) y detrs de arrive (llegar) cuando nos referimos a lugares que no
sean ciudades o pases.

Ejemplos:
He is at home.(l est en casa.)

I always visit my sister at work.(Siempre visito a mi hermana en el trabajo.)

We eat at the table.(Comemos en la mesa.)

She will see him at the theatre.(Le ver en el teatro.)

Her name is at the bottom of the page.(Su nombre est en la parte inferior de la pgina.)

When did you arrive at the airport?(Cundo llegaste al aeropuerto?)

Uso (tiempo): Lo utilizamos delante de la hora y de fiestas.

Ejemplos:
He runs every morning at 6.(l corre cada maana a las 6.)

I will see them at Christmas.(Les ver en Navidad.)

ON

Significado: sobre, encima de algo, tocando

Uso (lugar): Se coloca delante de nombres de lugares con base como mesas, suelos, etc., cuando nos
referimos a partes de una habitacin como el techo o la pared y para indicar que alguien est dentro de
un transporte pblico o en una planta de un edificio.

Ejemplos:
The pen is on the table.(El bolgrafo est sobre la mesa.)

They have a photograph of Paris on the wall.(Tienen una foto de Pars en la pared.)

I am on the bus.(Estoy en el autobs.)

Her apartment is on the second floor.(Su piso est en la segunda planta.)

Uso (tiempo): Lo utilizamos con das de la semana, fechas y fiestas.

Ejemplos:
They went to Mexico on the first of May.(Fueron a Mjico el da uno de mayo.)

He runs on Mondays and Fridays.(l corre los lunes y los viernes.)

I will see Luis on his birthday.(Ver a Luis en su cumpleaos.)