To Be — Foundation Lesson 3

1 Concept

The Most Common — and Most Irregular — Verb

🧱 Foundation — this verb appears in almost every lesson ahead

The verb "be" is the most common verb in English, and also the most irregular. Where a regular verb like "walk" has four forms, "be" has eight: am, is, are, was, were, been, being — plus the base form be itself.

Be does two completely different jobs:

Main verb — has its own meaning: I am a teacher.
Helping verb — supports another verb: I am playing.

This lesson focuses on be as a main verb — describing age, identity, and how things are. You'll meet its helping-verb job briefly at the end, and then in full detail in the continuous tense lessons ahead.

2 Present Forms

Am, Is, Are

Every subject has its own present form of "be":

Subject	Affirmative	Subject + not + Verb	Contracted	Question
I	am	I am not	I'm not	Am I...?
You	are	You are not	You're not / You aren't	Are you...?
He / She / It	is	He is not	He's not / He isn't	Is he...?
We	are	We are not	We're not / We aren't	Are we...?
They	are	They are not	They're not / They aren't	Are they...?

Where "not" goes: to make "be" negative, "not" simply goes right after the verb — "am not, is not, are not". This is different from most verbs, which need a helping verb like "do/does/did" before they can take "not" (you'll see this in Lesson 4).

"I amn't" does not exist. The negative of "I am" is always I'm not — there is no short form that keeps "am" and adds "n't" to it.

Questions — subject and verb switch places. In a statement, the subject comes first: You are ready. In a question, "be" jumps in front of the subject: Are you ready? The same swap happens for every subject: "He is" → "Is he...?"

3 Past Forms

Was, Were

The past only has two forms — much simpler than the present:

Subject	Affirmative	Subject + not + Verb	Contracted	Question
I	was	I was not	I wasn't	Was I...?
You	were	You were not	You weren't	Were you...?
He / She / It	was	He was not	He wasn't	Was he...?
We	were	We were not	We weren't	Were we...?
They	were	They were not	They weren't	Were they...?

Where "not" goes: just like in the present, "not" goes right after the verb — "was not, were not". Nothing else needs to change around it.

There are no short affirmative forms in the past. We say "I was" — never "I's". This is a common mistake, because students expect a short form to exist everywhere it does in the present.

Questions — subject and verb switch places. Just like in the present, "be" jumps in front of the subject to make a question: "You were" → "Were you...?" "He was" → "Was he...?"

4 Main Verb Uses

Five Everyday Uses of Be

The verb "be" has many different uses in English — far more than we could cover in one lesson. Here are five of the most common ones you will use every day.

Age

I am thirty-two years old.
She was twenty-five when she got married.
How old are you?

Nationality and Origin

I am Brazilian.
He is from Germany.
Where are you from?

Marital and Family Status

She is married.
They are single.
He was divorced.

Job and Identity

I am a teacher.
She is a doctor.
They are students.

States and Feelings

I am tired.
He is hungry.
She was sick last week.

5 Helping Verb Preview

Be + -ing = Action in Progress

"Be" also works as a helping verb — it teams up with the -ing form to describe an action in progress.

is / are (present) She is playing right now.

was / were (past) They were eating when I called.

The helping verb ("is / are / was / were") shows the tense — it tells you "when". The main verb takes the -ing form and tells you "what" is happening. You'll use this pattern in every Present Continuous and Past Continuous lesson ahead.

6 Practice

Try It Yourself

Exercise A — Identify the Job

Click your answer for each sentence.

1

She is a doctor.

✓ Correct — "is" has its own meaning here, describing her job.
2

They are playing outside.

✓ Correct — "are" teams up with "playing" to build the progressive.
3

I am tired.

✓ Correct — "am" has its own meaning here, describing a state.
4

He was reading when I arrived.

✓ Correct — "was" teams up with "reading" to build the progressive.
5

We are from Colombia.

✓ Correct — "are" has its own meaning here, describing origin.
6

He is my brother.

✓ Correct — "is" has its own meaning here, describing a relationship.
7

She is cooking dinner right now.

✓ Correct — "is" teams up with "cooking" to build the progressive.
8

They were tired after the game.

✓ Correct — "were" has its own meaning here, describing a state.

Exercise B — Correct Form of Be

Type the correct form: am, is, are, was, or were.

1

I Polish.
2

She a nurse.
3

We ready.
4

He sick yesterday.
5

They students last year.
6

How old you?
7

Where she from?
8

I right about the answer?

Exercise C — Main Verb or Helping Verb?

Click your answer for each sentence.

1

She is a teacher.

✓ Correct — is is a main verb here. It has its own meaning, with no -ing form after it.
2

He is speaking right now.

✓ Correct — is is a helping verb here. It teams up with the -ing form speaking to build the continuous.
3

I am thirty years old.

✓ Correct — am is a main verb here. It describes age by itself, with no -ing form after it.
4

They were writing letters.

✓ Correct — were is a helping verb here. It teams up with the -ing form writing to build the continuous.
5

We are from Uzbekistan.

✓ Correct — are is a main verb here. It describes origin by itself, with no -ing form after it.
6

She was calling her mother.

✓ Correct — was is a helping verb here. It teams up with the -ing form calling to build the continuous.

7 Choose the Right Sentence

Apply What You Know

Read each question carefully. Select the sentence that matches the description.

Question 1 of 5

Select the sentence with the correct negative of "I am."

B is correct. "Amn't" does not exist in standard English. The only negative of "I am" is "I'm not".

Question 2 of 5

Select the sentence with the correct past form of be.

C is correct. There is no short form for past affirmative — "I was", never "I's". Also, "I" takes "was", not "were", and "they" takes "were", not "was".

Question 3 of 5

Select the sentence that correctly asks about someone's nationality.

D is correct. Questions with "be" put the verb before the subject: "are you", not "you are". Options A, B, and C all have the word order wrong.

Question 4 of 5

Select the sentence where be is used as a helping verb.

C is correct. "Is reading" uses two verbs: "is" (the helping verb, showing this is happening now) and "reading" (the main verb, the -ing form). Options A, B, and D use "be" as the only verb — a main verb use.

Question 5 of 5

Select the sentence that correctly describes a state or feeling.

A is correct. States and feelings like "hungry, tired, ready" need "be" — you cannot drop the verb (B) or replace it with "do" or "have" (C, D).

8 Summary

Be as a main verb Am / is / are in the present, was / were in the past — used for age, nationality, identity, and states.

Present: am (I), is (he/she/it), are (you/we/they).
Past: was (I/he/she/it), were (you/we/they) — no short affirmative forms.
"Amn't" does not exist — the negative of "I am" is always "I'm not".
Main verb uses: age, nationality, marital status, job, and states or feelings.
Questions put "be" before the subject: "Are you...? Was he...?"
Helping verb preview: be + -ing = action in progress — the foundation of every continuous tense ahead.

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