Дієслово be у теперішньому часі

When you use it

You use be to say who someone is, what something is, where it is and what it is like. It joins a subject to a name, a job, a place, an age or a feeling: I am Anna, Tom is at home, we are tired. In the present it has three forms, am, is and are, and the choice depends only on the subject. Most other English verbs have just two present forms, so be is the one verb worth learning by heart before anything else.

How it is formed

The form follows the subject. I takes am; he, she and it take is; you, we and they take are. A singular noun (Tom, the bus) behaves like he or it. A plural noun (the children, my keys) behaves like they.

Three things to notice.

The short forms (I'm, he's, they're, isn't, aren't) are normal in speech and in friendly writing. The full forms sound more careful and are the ones you use in formal text. Am not has no short form with n't: amn't does not exist, so you say I'm not.

The negative is made by putting not directly after the verb. There is no do or don't with be: she is not, never she doesn't be. This is different from almost every other verb, which is why be needs its own lesson.

The question is made by moving the verb in front of the subject: You are ready becomes Are you ready? Short answers repeat the verb and nothing else: Yes, I am. No, she isn't. Yes, they are. In a positive short answer you must use the full form. Yes, I'm is not possible; Yes, I am is.

Examples

• I am a student at the university.
• Tom is in the kitchen.
• Anna and Tom are tired after work.
• It isn't cold this morning.
• Are you hungry? Yes, I am.
• My keys are on the table.
• Is Anna at home? No, she isn't.
• We**'re** late for the bus.

Common mistakes

• ✗ I student. He teacher.
  ✓ I am a student. He is a teacher.
  Ukrainian and Russian leave out the present tense of бути / быть: Я студент, Він учитель. The sentence is complete without a verb. English never leaves out be, so every sentence of this kind needs am, is or are. The article a is also required before a job; see the lesson on articles.
• ✗ I am agree with you.
  ✓ I agree with you.
  In Ukrainian and Russian згоден / согласен is a short adjective, so it feels natural to put am in front of it. In English agree is an ordinary verb, like think or know, and takes no form of be.
• ✗ I have twenty years.
  ✓ I am twenty. / I am twenty years old.
  English gives age with be, not with have. Мені двадцять років / Мне двадцать лет uses the dative case and no verb at all, so neither a direct copy nor the French-style have works here.
• ✗ Is cold today. Is very interesting.
  ✓ It is cold today. It is very interesting.
  Холодно and Цікаво / Интересно are complete sentences with no subject. English needs a subject in every sentence. When there is no real subject, you use the empty pronoun it.
• ✗ You is my friend.
  ✓ You are my friend.
  You always takes are, even when it means one person. English has no separate polite form like Ви / Вы, and there is no singular verb form that goes with you.

Try it