‘Be’ in Present Simple: statements

 

Be is a very important verb in English. We use it to talk about many things, such as age, height, weight, time, place, weather, jobs, etc.

 

Be tells us that something exists or happens. It can also show the nature and quality of things.

 

Be in the Present Simple Tense has the following forms:

 

Singular	Plural
I am (I’m) you are (you’re) he/she/it is (it’s)	we are (we’re) you are (you’re) they are (they’re)

*The contracted forms are written in brackets. They are used in more informal situations.

 

• Jack is a student. (he)
• His sister is a manager. (she)
• Jack is 20 and Tom is 26.
• They are from London.
• You are a nice person. (you singular)
• Both guys are dark-haired, and their eyes are blue. (they)
• The weather is great today. (it)
• We are happy to be here.
• You are all very talented people. (you plural)

 

Note: In the plural, the verb be only has one form – are.

• We are so happy together.
• Guys, you are so funny.
• They’re from London.

 

We use the verb ‘be’ impersonally to state the existence of something. When we use be in this way, the impersonal subject is there.

 

We use ‘there is’ for singular statements and ‘there are’ for plural statements. We can also use this impersonal phrase in interrogative sentences. When we use it in interrogatives, the word order is reversed.

• There is one person at the table.
• There are a lot of people here.
• Is there a good restaurant nearby?
• Are there many people there?

 

We also use be to build continuous tenses and the passive voice (see more on them in the respective sections).

 

Continuous

• Jack is watching a football game.
• We are planning a vacation to Italy.
• I am enjoying the movie.

 

Passive Voice

• It is used for many things.
• They are being taken to the hospital.

 

Note: In everyday speech we normally use the short forms of be.

• I’m 20 years old.
• It’s a beautiful day.
• They’re football fans.