Verb To Be

Developed by William Wildt

billywildt@yahoo.com
Grammar Objectives
• To Learn the Verb To Be
• To Learn the Forms of the Verb To Be
• To Learn the Contractions of the Verb To Be
• To Learn some Uses of the Verb To Be
• To Learn to form Affirmative and Negative Statements
• To Learn to form Affirmative and Negative YES / NO Questions

Conceptual Content
 Verb To Be
 Contractions of the Verb To Be
 Affirmative and Negative Statements with the Verb To Be
 Affirmative and Negative YES/NO Questions with the Verb To Be
 Short and Long Answers to YES/NO Questions
 Personal Pronouns and the Verb ‘To Be’
The Verb ‘To Be’ is one of the most used and most important verbs in the English
language. The Verb ‘To Be’ is an Irregular Verb. It is not an Action Verb, it is considered
a Linking Verb and it is commonly used as an Auxiliary Verb for some verb
conjugations.
Form of Sentences with the Verb To Be:
Person Personal Verb
Pronoun To BE SUBJECT VERB PREDICATE
Proper Name
1 I am
Michael is from Chile.
2 You are Common Name
Singular He is The students are in the classroom.
3 She is Pronoun

It is I am a teacher.

Form of YES/NO Questions with the Verb To Be:

1 We are VERB SUBJECT PREDICATE
Plural 2 You are Am I a student?
3 They are Is Michael from Chile?
Are the students in the classroom?
Personal Pronouns and the Verb ‘To Be’
 Affirmative / Negative Statements and Questions
STATEMENTS YES / NO QUESTIONS
Affirmative Negative Affirmative Negative
I am an architect. I am not an architect. Am I an architect? Am I not an architect?
You are Chilean. You are not Chilean. Are you Chilean? Are you not Chilean?
He is at Plaza de Armas. He is not at Plaza de Armas. Is he at FCh? Is he not at FCh?
She is in her office. She is not in her office. Is she in her office? Is she not in her office?
It is a Honda. It is not a Honda. Is it a Honda? Is it not a Honda?

We are doctors. We are not doctors. Are we doctors? Are we not doctors?
You are Chilean. You are not Chilean. Are you Argentinean? Are you not Argentinean?
They are from Chiloe. They are not from Chiloe. Are they from Arica? Are they not from Arica?
 CONTRACTIONS
In English, it is always more common to use Contractions. Contractions are a
shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group,
created by omission of internal letters.

STATEMENTS YES / NO QUESTIONS

Affirmative Negative Negative
I’m an architect. I’m not an architect. – –
You’re Chilean. You’re not Chilean. You aren’t Chilean. Aren’t you Chilean?
He’s at Plaza de Armas. He’s not at Plaza de Armas. He isn’t at Plaza de Armas. Isn’t he at FCh?
She’s in her office. She’s not in her office. She isn’t in her office. Isn’t she in her office?
It’s a Honda. It’s not a Honda. It isn’t a Honda. Isn’t it a Honda?

We’re doctors. We’re not doctors. We aren’t doctors. Aren’t we doctors?

You’re Chilean. You’re not Chilean. You aren’t Chilean. Aren’t you Chilean?
They’re from Chiloe. They’re not from Chiloe. They aren’t from Chiloe. Aren’t they from Arica?
 USES OF THE VERB ‘TO BE’
The Verb To Be is one of the verbs with the most variety of uses in the English language.
Below are examples of some of its uses.

USES
For PRESENTATIONS and INTRODUCTIONS
Hi! I am Michael. Nice to meet you.
To Talk about PROFESSIONS and OCCUPATIONS
She is an actress.
To Talk about PLACE OF ORIGIN
He is from Arica.
To Talk about NATIONALITY
You are Chilean.
To Talk about LOCATION
We are at the cinema.
To Describe PEOPLE or THINGS
It is a very good movie.
To Compare PEOPLE or THINGS
You are taller than him.
To Talk about FAMILY or RELATIONSHIPS
They are my cousins. They are my colleagues.
To Indicate PEOPLE or THINGS That is John. That is La Moneda Palace.
To Talk about POSSESSION That is my laptop. Those books are hers.
To Tell the TIME It is 3 o’clock. It is 5:15 in the afternoon.
 YES / NO Questions – Short And Long Answers
QUESTIONS SHORT ANSWERS Yes/No Questions
Affirmative (+) Negative (-) • Are also called Closed Questions because
Am I a teacher? Yes, I am. No, I’m not. the only possible answers are “Yes” or “No”.
Are you a student? Yes, you are. No, you aren’t. •Yes/No questions are used to check
Is he Michael? Yes, he is No. he is not. information, ask for a confirmation and
check facts.
Is she Natalia? Yes, she is. No. she’s not.
•The only possible answers are “Yes” or
Is it a Mustang? Yes, it is. No. it isn’t.
“No”, or “I don’t know.”
• Always use the Short or Long answer, not
Are we from Santiago? Yes, we are. No, we are not. only “Yes” or “No”, this sounds rude.
Are you at the cinema? Yes, you are. No, you’re not.
Are they your cousins? Yes, they are. No, they aren’t.

We use Negative QUESTIONS LONG ANSWERS

Questions to:
• Show surprise
• Confirm something we
think is true or correct
• When we expect the
listener to agree with us
• In Exclamations
Affirmative (+) Negative (-)
Am I Chilean? Yes, I am Chilean. No, I am not Chilean.
Aren’t you from Arica? Yes, you’re from Arica. No, you’re not from Arica.
Is he tall? Yes, he is tall. No. he isn’t tall.
Isn’t she Miriam Hernandez? Yes, she’s Miriam Hernandez! No. she isn’t her.
Is it a Honda? I don’t know.
Aren’t we at home? Yes, we are at home. No, we are at work.
Are you cousins? Yes, you are cousins. No, you’re not cousins.
Are they short? Yes, they’re short. No, they aren’t tall.
 EXERCISES
Below is the link to a website in Spanish explaining the Verb To Be:
http://www.madridteacher.com/Grammar/verbo-to-be.htm

Below are some links to websites with self evaluation exercises for you to practice:
http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/ceip_san_tesifon/recursos/ingles/act_interactivas/cuestionarios/tobe0.htm
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2813
http://www.eclecticenglish.com/grammar/PresentSimpleToBe1A.html
http://www.english-4u.de/am_is_are_ex1.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/am_is_are_ex2.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/am_is_are_ex3.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/am_is_are_ex4.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/am_is_are_ex5.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/am_is_are_ex6.htm
http://www.bradleys-english-school.com/online/flashmultiplechoice/mc_amisare.html
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/be.htm
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-6659.php
http://www.englishmaven.org/HP6/To_Be_Exercise2.htm
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-1545.php
http://www.adelescorner.org/grammar/present_simple/to_be.html
http://www.eflnet.com/grammar/tobepresent.php
http://www.bradleys-english-school.com/online/MultipleChoice/verbtobe.html
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-9294.php
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/english-verbs-tobe1.html
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=927
https://sites.google.com/site/esllearnerscorner/Home/grammar/verbs-to-be/practice-exercise-2---contractions-verbs-to-be

Exercises with Yes / No Questions:

http://www.eclecticenglish.com/grammar/PresentSimpleToBe1C.html
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/questions/be.htm

Exercises with Contractions:

http://personales.ya.com/mjandres/archivos/presntbe1.htm