The Present Affirmative of Be

Grammar in context
Milt Costa is from Brazil. He is at Oregon State University. He is an accountant. Carol Winston is from New York. Yoko Mori is from Japan. They are new students at Oregon State University. They are roommates. Oregon State University is big. It is clean and beautiful. The people are friendly. It is a nice place. Carol, Yoko and Yokos dog are in the park.

Affirmative Statements and Contractions with Be

SINGULAR SUBJECT I You BE

am
are

a student. happy.

Milt He
Carol She Oregon It is in the United States.

is

a state. beautiful. in the United States.

SUBJECT Carol and I We You and Carol You Carol and Milt They

PLURAL BE are students.

are

happy. In the United States.

Oregon and New York They

are

in the United States.

CONTRACTIONS
I am You are He is She is It is Im youre hes shes its we are you are they are Peter is were youre theyre Petes

Complete the sentences. Use am, is or are.

1. 2. 3. 4.
is Oregon ______ a state. is It ______ in the United States. is Carol ______ in Oregon. are Yoko and Carol ______ in Oregon. are They ______ roommates. are They ______new students. are We ______students. am I ______ a student. are You ______ happy. is He ______ a manager.

5.
6. 7.

8.
9. 10.

Correct the passage. Add the verb be in 7 more places are is is This my family. They in Brazil. This my sister ^ is is Alessandra. She a teacher. This my brother is is Joao. He a businessman. My family far away, are but thanks to e-mail, we close.

The Present Negative of Be

My work is not easy. Where is Rocky? Hes not on campus. Hes not in the telephone book. Hes not with Carol. Who is Rocky? Hes not a student. Hes not a teacher. Carols happy, but Peters not happy. Peters worried. But Im not worried. After all, Im Milt the great detective.

Negative Statements and Contractions with Be

SINGULAR SUBJECT BE/NOT I am not Im not You are not Youre not You arent He is not Hes not He isnt She is not Shes not She isnt It is not Its not It isnt a state. beautiful. from Japan.

a new teacher. old. from Japan.

PLURAL SUBJECT BE/NOT We are not Were not We arent You are not Youre not You arent They are not Theyre not They arent They are not Theyre not They arent states. beautiful. from Japan. teachers. old. from Japan.

Complete the sentences. Use is, is not, are, or are not.

1.
2. 3.
are not Apples _____________ black. is The Earth ____________ round. is not The sun _____________ cold. are not good for you. Ice cream and chocolate _________ Lemons ___________ yellow. are are not Cars ___________ cheap. is Peter ___________ a name. An elephant ___________ a small animal. is not English, Spanish and Chinese _______ languages. are is not The president of Peru _________ a cook.

4.
5. 6.

7.
8. 9. 10.

Yes / No Questions and Short Answers with Be

John is an accountant.

Is John an accountant?
Yes, he is.
No, he isnt.

(Yes, hes.)

Yes / No Questions and Short Answers with Be

QUESTIONS SINGULAR
BE Am SUBJECT I

ANSWERS SINGULAR
YES you are. NO Youre not. You arent. Im not. Hes not. No, He isnt. Shes not. She isnt. Its not. It isnt.

Are

you
he from Mexico? Yes,

I am.
he is.

Is

she

she is.

it

it is.

QUESTIONS PLURAL BE SUBJECT

ANSWERS SINGULAR YES NO

We

you are.

Youre not. You arent.

you Are

from Mexico?

Yes,

we are.

were not. No, we arent.

they

they are.

theyre not. they arent.

Write yes / no questions. Then write short answers.

1. Alejandro Toledo / from New York
Is Alejandro Toledo from New York? No, he isnt. No, Im not.

2. You / from Australia

Are you from Australia?

3. Rio de Janeiro / in Colombia

Is Rio de Janeiro in Colombia?

No, it isnt. No, it isnt.

4. Canada / near India

Is Canada near India?

5. Caracas and Lima / capital cities

Are Caracas and Lima capital cities?
Yes, they are.

Questions with WHAT, WHO AND WHERE

QUESTIONS WITH WHAT QUESTION WORD What BE ANSWERS The photo album. Its the photo album. It is the photo album. Dictionaries. Theyre dictionaries. These books are dictionaries.

is

this?

What

these are books?

QUESTIONS WITH WHO

QUESTION WORD BE ANSWERS Mary. your friend? Mary is. Mary is my friend.

Who

is

Who

are friends?

Lulu and Mary. Lulu and Mary are. Lulu and Mary are friends.

QUESTIONS WITH WHERE QUESTION WORD BE ANSWERS

Where

is

your friend?

At the library. Shes at the library.

Where

are

On the table. the presents? Theyre on the table.

EXERCISES

THE PRESENT AFFIRMATIVE OF BE Complete is sentences. Use am, is, or are.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
is Toronto __________ in Canada. am I ___________ from Canada. are My family and I ___________ from Toronto. Our friends Carlos and Edna _________ from Brazil. are Brazil __________ a very large country. is is Edna __________ from the capital, Sao Paulo. are Carlos and his family ___________ from Lima. are You __________ a good student. are You and your sister __________ students.

Complete the answers. Use I am, you are, he is, she is, it is, we are, or they are.
1. How are you? I am ________ fine. 2. How are you and your wife? ________ We are fine. 3. How is your daughter? She is ________ fine. 4. How is your son? ________ fine. He is 5. How are your mother and father? They are fine. ________ 6. Where are you? I am ________ in the garden. 7. Where is the sandwich? It is ________ on the table. 8. Where are the keys? They are in the car. ________ 9. Where is Mrs. Rivera? ________ She is in the office. 10.Where am I? You are at the university. ________

Change the underlined. Use he, she, it, we or they.

It

I am Cesar. My last name is Manucci. My last name is an Italian name.

We

My family and I are from Italy. Now my family and I live here. Anna is my
She
He

mother. My mother is from a village in Abruzzi. The village is very small.

It

It

Silvano is my father.

My father is from Milan. Milan is a nice city in the

They

south of Italy. My parents are in Italy now. My parents are on vacation.

We

I am at home with my sisters. My sisters and I are not happy alone.

They He

My sisters are always angry with me. My brother is lucky. My brother is

it

not at home. My brother is at college. The college is far away.

Change each sentence to a negative statement.

1. He is happy. He isnt happy. ________________________. 2. They are sisters. They are not sisters. ________________________. 3. We are from Venezuela. We are not from Venezuela. ________________________. 4. It is a statement. It is not a statement. ________________________. 5. I am young. I am not young. ________________________. 6. You are an English teacher. ________________________. You are not an English Teacher. 7. She is in love with Ross. She is not in love with Ross. ________________________.

Hes worried. Theyre friends. Were from Argentina. Its a question. Im middle-aged. Youre an English student. Shes in love with Joey.

Question or Sentence
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Samuel Fernandez is a salesman . Is Samuel Fernandez a salesman? Are you David ? Are you and your classmates worried ? Is your partner in class today ? We are very good students . I am very thirsty . Is the dog hungry ? Tacna is near Chile . Are the children afraid of the dog ? Is your car red ? This exercise is easy .

Change each sentence to a negative statement.

1. A: B: 2. A: B: 3. A: B: 4. A: B: 5. A: B: 6. A: B:

Are you an accountant? _____________________ am not. No, I ________________.

(you / an accountant) Im a businessman. Is it one oclock? _____________________ (it / one oclock) is Yes, it _______________. Its time for lunch. Are you students? _____________________ (you / students) are not. No, we ______________. Were teachers. _____________________ (she / from Mexico) Is she from Mexico? No, she ______________. Shes from Panama. is not. _____________________ (they / late) Are they late? Yes, they ____________. They are almost an hour late. are. _____________________ (you / relaxed) Are you relaxed? No, I ________________. Im very worried. am not.

Write questions and answers.

1. Mark Costa / you / are Are you Mark Costa? ____________________. 2. you / are / happy ____________________. Are you happy? 3. a student / your dad / is Is your dad a student? ____________________. 4. clean / is / your office ____________________. Is your office clean? 5. are / from Texas / your clients _______________________. Are your clients from Texas? 6. Carol Winston / your friend / is Is Carol Winston your friend? _______________________. 7. a businessman / are / you ____________________. Are you a businessman? 8. your partner / is / friendly Is your partner friendly? ____________________. 9. your mother and father / Brazilian / are _____________________________. Are your mother and father Brazilian? 10.are / in love / you ____________________. Are you in love? 11.middle-aged / your classmates / are Are your classmates middle-aged? _____________________________. No, Im not. _____________. Yes, I am. _____________. No, he is not. _____________.

Yes, it is. _____________.

_____________. No, they are not.

No, she is not. _____________.

Yes, I am. _____________. Yes, he / she is. _____________. _____________. No, they are not. Yes, I am. _____________. No, they are not. _____________.