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He's a Student

The Present Tense of the verb To Be

The verb to be is the most commonly used verb in the English language. It is important to learn how to use this verb when you begin studying English. So, let's begin!

1. a: Hello, I am a teacher

b: Hello, I am a student

a: I'm a teacher and you are a student.

b: Yes, you're a teacher and I'm a student.

As you can see, to be is a very basic verb. It can be used in a contracted form. A contraction is formed by combining two words together with the use of an apostrophe (' ). The following is the conjugation of the verb to be in its regular and contracted form:

	Singular	Singular	Plural	Plural
	Regular	Contracted	Regular	Contracted
1st Person	I am	I'm	we are	we're
2nd Person	you are	you're	you are	you're
3rd Person	he, she, it is	he's, she's, it's	they are	they're

Practice: This lesson will allow you to learn and practice using the verb to be in its regular and contracted forms. We will also cover the negative forms as well as using the verb in questions. Where the lesson plans has the word 'REPEAT', the video will pause allowing you time to repeat the sentence.

2. a: Hello, I am a teacher.

- He is a teacher.

REPEAT -- He is a teacher.

b: Hello, I am a student.

- She is a student.

REPEAT -- She is a student.

3. a: Hello, I'm a teacher.

b: Hello, we're students.

a: I'm a teacher and you're students.

b: Yes, you're a teacher and we're students.

REPEAT - Yes, you're a teacher and we're students.

4. A. Hello, we're students.

- They're students.

REPEAT -- They're students.

B. Hello, we're students.

- You're students.

REPEAT -- You're students

In general conversation, the verb to be is used in its contracted form. That's why most of this lesson uses contractions so you can get better listening and speaking practice with this verb.

The following table lists the negative form of the verb to be with its contractions:

	Singular	Singular	Plural	Plural
	Regular	Contracted	Regular	Contracted
1st Person	I am not	I'm not	we are not	we're not
2nd Person	you are not	you're not	you are not	you're not
3rd Person	he, she, it is not	he's, she's, it's not	they are not	they're not

5. a: Hello, I'm from England. I'm not American.

c: Hello, I'm American. I'm not from Australia.

b:I'm not from Ireland and you aren't from Germany.

c: No, you aren't from New York and I'm not from the South.

REPEAT: No, you aren't from New York and I'm not from the South.

6. a: I'm not American.

b: He isn't American.

REPEAT -- He isn't American.

c. I'm not Australian.

a: She isn't Australian.

REPEAT -- She isn't Australian.

7. b: We aren't hungry.

c: We aren't thirsty.

a: I'm not handsome and you aren't beautiful.

b: No, you aren't handsome but we aren't ugly.

Repeat: No, you aren't handsome but we aren't ugly.

8. a: I'm not handsome.

c: He isn't handsome.

REPEAT -- He isn't handsome.

b: We aren't ugly.

a: They aren't ugly.

REPEAT -- They aren't ugly.

Now, let's practice making questions with the verb to be. The following practice uses the verb to be with the infinitive form of other verbs. Note that the infinitive is underlined (or inbold print) in the following exercises.

9. a: Hello, sorry I'm late. Are you ready to begin class?

c: Yes, I am.

a: Am I on time?

c: No, you're not.

REPEAT: No, you're not.

10. a: Hello, sorry I'm late.

b: Is he on time?

c: No, he isn't.

REPEAT - No, he isn't.

11. b: I'm ready to begin class.

a: Is she ready to begin class?

c: Yes, she is.

REPEAT - Yes, she is.

12. a: Sorry, but I'm not ready to teach. Are you ready to learn English?

b: Yes, we are.

c: Am I able to go to America?

a: Yes, you are.

13. b: We're able to buy an airplane ticket.

a: Are they able to buy an airplane ticket?

REPEAT -- Are they able to buy an airplane ticket?

c: Excuse me, I'm lost. Are you from here?

b: No, I'm not from here.

REPEAT -- No, I'm not from here.

14. c: We're not busy. Are you busy?

REPEAT -- No, we're not busy. Are you busy?

b: No, we aren't.

REPEAT -- No, we aren't.

15. c: Wait, they're mad at me!

c: Are they mad at me?

b: No, they aren't mad at you.

REPEAT -- No, they aren't mad at you.

We will be using the verb To Be in future lessons. Until next time, keep practicing your English!