To be: am, is and are
Am, Is and Are
The words am, is, are are also verbs, but they are not action words. They are the simple present tense of the verb be.
Use am with the pronoun I, and is with the pronouns he, she and it.
Use are with the pronouns you, we and they
Examples:
I am Peter. I am not Paul.
She is Miss Susie. She is an actor.
He is my teacher. He is not a lawyer.
You are a stranger. You are not my friend.
We are friends. We are in the same class.
They are siblings. They are not enemies.
Contractions: also called short forms.
I am = I’m
You are = You’re
He is = He’s
She is = She’s
It is = It’s
am not = aren’t (only in questions)
is not = isn’t
are not = aren’t
They are = they’re
We are = We’re
In positive sentences, use I’m not. For example:
I’m not shorter than you.
But in questions, use aren’t as a contraction of am not. For example, you say:
I’m not shorter than you, aren’t I?
