An adjective is a word that gives us a description about something or someone.

John is old.

Old is an adjective. Old is a description of John.

With an adjective, we frequently use TO BE. The order is:

To be + adjective

John is old.

TO BE + ADJECTIVE

Some examples of To be + adjective:

I am tired.

You are nervous.

He is tall.

She is happy.

It is round.

We are cold.

You are hot.

They are angry.

TO BE + NOT + ADJECTIVE

John is old.

What is the opposite of old?

Young.
To make a negative sentence we use TO BE + NOT + ADJECTIVE

John is not young.

Our examples from before … now in negative form.

I am not tired.

You are not nervous.

Remember you can make a contraction of are not … which becomes aren’t and is not which becomes
isn’t

You are not nervous. OR

you aren’t nervous.

The rest of the examples:

He is not tall.

She is not happy.

It is not round.

We are not cold

You are not hot.

They are not angry.

So, the negative sentence is: TO BE + NOT + ADJECTIVE.

Let’s look at negative sentences using opposites.

I am not sad. I am happy.

Flowers aren’t ugly. They are beautiful.

Ice cream isn’t hot. It is cold.

Lemons aren’t sweet. They are sour.

This exercise isn’t difficult. It is easy.

A piano isn’t light. It is heavy.

Elephants aren’t small. They are big.

My shoes aren’t clean. They are dirty.

QUESTIONS – TO BE + ADJECTIVE

We can also make questions with To Be and an adjective.

He is happy. (This is an affirmative sentence)

To make a question we change the order of To Be…

Instead of he is… it becomes Is he….?

Is he happy?

And then you can give a short answer:

Yes, he is. OR No, he isn’t.

Another example:

She is nervous.

To make this a question, it becomes…

Is she nervous?

And then you can give a short answer:

Yes, she is. OR No, she isn’t.

Another example:

They are confused.

To make this a question, it becomes…

Are they confused?

And then you can give a short answer:

Yes, they are. OR No, they aren’t.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Exercise 1

Complete these sentences using: is, isn’t, are, or aren’t.

(The answers appear in our video.)

1. The Earth _____ round.

2. Diamonds _____ cheap.

3. Pillows _____ soft.

4. A balloon _____ heavy.

5. Turtles _____ slow.

6. Chocolate _____ sweet.

7. A rose _____ ugly.

8. Bananas _____ blue.

Exercise 2

Now write the opposite of each sentence. Use TO BE + Adjective.

For example: 1. The Earth is round. The Earth isn’t square.

Exercise 3

Describe your city…

Is your city large or small?

Is your city old or modern?

Is your city clean or dirty?

Is your city dangerous or safe?

Is your city boring or interesting?

Tell us more about your city.