Basics. "To be" in Present Tense.
To Be
The verb to be is a special verb in English that is used to describe the existence or identity of someone or something. It can also be used to indicate a temporary state or condition. In English, the verb to be is conjugated differently based on the subject of the sentence.
Here is a table to show the conjugation of the verb to be with different pronouns:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| I | am | are |
| You | are | are |
| He/She/It | is | is |
| We | are | are |
| They | are | are |
And here is a table to show the conjugation of the verb to be with different nouns:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| (a noun) | is | are |
For example:
- I am a student.
- She is a teacher.
- The book is on the table.
- Three pencils are on the desk.
The verb to be can also be used in the construction there is/are to indicate the existence of something. There is is used for singular nouns and there are is used for plural nouns.
For example:
- There is a cat in the room.
- There are two dogs in the park.
Negative forms
Negative sentences with the verb "to be" are formed by adding "not" after the conjugated form of the verb. The negative form of "to be" can be made by adding "not" after "am," "is," or "are."
Here is a table to show the negative conjugation of the verb "to be" with different subjects:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| I | am not | are not |
| You | are not | are not |
| He/She/It | is not | is not |
| We | are not | are not |
| They | are not | are not |
For example:
- I am not a doctor.
- You are not my sister.
- The books are not on the table.
- The cat is not in the room.
Questions
Questions with the verb "to be" are formed by inverting the subject and the conjugated form of the verb. "Is" or "Are" is placed before the subject to form a question.
Here is a table to show the question form of the verb "to be" with different subjects:
| Subject | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| I | Am I | Are we |
| You | Are you | Are you |
| He/She/It | Is he/she/it | Are they |
| We | Are we | Are we |
| They | Are they | Are they |
For example:
- Am I a teacher?
- Is she your mother?
- Are the dogs barking?
- Are the books on the table?
It is important to use the correct form of the verb "to be" based on the subject in the sentence to make your writing grammatically correct.
Questions
If you've ever asked You like coffee? with rising intonation and gotten a confused look — you've felt the gap between casual and grammatical English questions. Many languages form questions with intonation alone, but English usually requires inversion (Are you ready?) or do-support (Do you like coffee?). Skip the structure and your questions sound like uncertain statements.
Questions in English use inversion of subject and an auxiliary (Can she dance?) or do-support when no auxiliary is present (Does the milk go in the fridge?). Yes/no questions, wh-questions, negative questions, and tag questions all share this machinery.
Progressive tense
If you've ever paused over I work in London vs I'm working in London and not been sure which to pick — you've hit the simple/progressive distinction. The first means it's your usual job; the second means it's temporary, going on right now. Native speakers reach for this distinction constantly without thinking; learners have to make it deliberate.
The progressive aspect marks ongoing action at a time of reference, formed with be + -ing: I am working, She was reading, They will be travelling. Marks temporary or in-progress events. Stative verbs (know, believe, own) don't normally take it.
Simple tense
If you're at A1/A2 and the array of English tenses feels overwhelming, here's the good news: most of what you need to say at the start fits in the simple forms. I work, I worked, I will work — three forms cover habits, completed past actions, and basic future. Master these first; the progressive and perfect come more easily once the simple is solid.
The simple aspect is the unmarked verb form — no progressive -ing, no have + past participle. I go, I went, I will go. Marks single completed actions, habits, or permanent states.
Past tense
If you've ever told a story in English and felt the timeline get tangled — I came home, the dog ate, the cat slept — you've hit the limits of using simple past for everything. The past tense system has four forms specifically because real stories have layered timing: things that happened before other things, actions caught in progress, sequences of completed events.
The past tense has four English forms: simple past (I walked), past progressive (I was walking), past perfect (I had walked — earlier than another past event), past perfect progressive (I had been walking — ongoing up to a past point). Plus irregular verbs for the simple-past form.
Present tense
If you've ever told someone I am living here for ten years (should be have lived or have been living) — you've hit the present perfect's main puzzle. English insists that "started in the past, still true now" lives in the present perfect, not the simple present. Internalise that one rule and a whole class of common errors disappears.
The present tense in English has four forms: simple present (I work) for habits and general truths; present progressive (I am working) for now or temporary; present perfect (I have worked) for past with present relevance; present perfect progressive (I have been working) for ongoing duration up to now.
Modal verb
If you've ever struggled with the difference between You must do this (strong command) and You should do this (advice) — or It might rain (possible) and It will rain (certain) — you've felt how much modal verbs do in English. They're how the language signals certainty, obligation, possibility, and politeness, and getting them right is what stops your speech from sounding either pushy or wishy-washy.
A modal verb is an auxiliary — can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would — adding meaning around ability, permission, possibility, obligation, or speculation. Always followed by the bare infinitive (can swim, never can to swim), and never inflected for person.
Be
If your first weeks of English felt like a battle with am, is, are — you've already met the most common verb in the language. Every form of be is irregular, and you can't avoid them: they're in introductions, descriptions, questions, the present continuous, the past, and the passive voice. Get them automatic and the rest of English grammar gets noticeably less stressful.
The verb be has eight forms — be, am, is, are, being, was, were, been — more than any other English verb. Functions as a copula linking subject to complement (She is a doctor) and as an auxiliary for progressive tenses and the passive voice.
Grammatical person
If you've ever written she go or he have and not been sure why a teacher corrected it — you've hit grammatical person. English barely marks person on verbs anymore, but it kept just enough to catch you out: third-person singular present forms always end in -s (she works, he tries). Miss this one rule and almost every sentence about another person sounds wrong.
Grammatical person distinguishes the first person (speaker: I, we), second person (addressee: you), and third person (everyone else: he, she, it, they). The only place modern English marks it on verbs is the third-person singular present -s (she works).
Countable and uncountable
If you've ever written informations, an advice, or furnitures — and only learned later that none of these exist in English — you've hit the countable/uncountable divide. The trap is that English's choice of which nouns count individually and which don't is partly arbitrary: information is uncountable; fact is countable; bread is uncountable; loaf is countable.
In English, nouns are either countable (chair, book) or uncountable (water, furniture, advice). Countable nouns take a/an, form plurals, and pair with many/few; uncountables don't pluralise and pair with much/little.
Grammatical number
If you've ever written The data shows and been told it should be The data show — or written The list of items are when it should be is — you've hit a grammatical-number trap. Number agreement looks simple in theory (one takes singular, more than one takes plural) but English has enough irregular plurals and tricky collective nouns to keep you on your toes.
Grammatical number is the singular/plural distinction on nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Most English nouns form plurals with -(e)s; pronouns have irregular pairs (I/we, he/they); verbs agree with their subject (He goes vs They go).
Pronoun
If you've ever paused before who vs whom, its vs it's, or me vs I — you've felt how much weight pronouns carry in English. They're tiny words but they're case-sensitive (I vs me), context-dependent, and one of the few places where everyday English still trips careful speakers. Get the common patterns right and you instantly sound more careful.
A pronoun is a closed class of small words that replace nouns or noun phrases. Types: personal (I, you, he…), demonstrative (this, that), relative (who, which), interrogative (who?, what?), reflexive (myself), and indefinite (everyone, nobody).
Noun
If you've ever frozen mid-sentence wondering whether to say an information or some information, child or children, they or them — you've hit the core of how English uses nouns. Nail this down and articles, plurals, possessives, and pronoun choice all stop feeling like guesswork.
A noun is a word that names something: a person, place, thing, idea, action, or quality. Nouns are the building blocks every other part of speech bolts onto. Spot one in a sentence and you can usually predict the article, the verb form, and the pronouns that follow.
Verb
If grammar feels overwhelming, the fix is almost always to focus on verbs first. They carry the action, the time, the mood, and the voice — a single verb form decides whether your sentence reads as past or present, fact or hypothetical, active or passive. Get verbs solid and the rest of grammar suddenly looks much smaller.
A verb expresses action, state, or occurrence — the engine of every English sentence. Most verbs have five forms (base, -s, past tense, past participle, -ing); be has eight; modal verbs have fewer. Verbs carry tense, aspect, mood, and voice.
Conjunction
If your writing reads like a list of separate sentences — I was tired. I went home. I slept badly. — the missing piece is conjunctions. They're how you bind ideas together: I was tired, so I went home, but I still slept badly. Pick the wrong one and the relationship between ideas flips; pick none and your writing stays choppy.
A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses. Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, so, yet, for, nor) link equal units; subordinating conjunctions (because, although, if, when, while) introduce dependent clauses.
Negation
If your native language uses double negatives (I don't see nothing) — like Russian, Spanish, or French — you've probably been told this is wrong in English and not been entirely sure what the fix is. Standard English uses one negative per clause: either I saw nothing or I didn't see anything, never both. Once you internalise that single rule, your written English clears up a lot.
Negation in English uses not after an auxiliary or modal verb: I am not going. Without an auxiliary, you add do-support (I do not go). Negative words like never and nobody already negate the clause — adding not on top creates non-standard double negatives.
English Grammar Basics
If grammar feels like a tangle of rules you can never quite remember, the fix isn't more advanced material — it's making the foundations automatic. The English Grammar Basics tag is where you do that: the building blocks every other topic stands on. Get these right and the rest stops feeling random.
It marks quizzes and explainers covering the core of English: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, tenses, voice, mood, and basic sentence structure. Useful whether you're a beginner or refreshing rusty knowledge.
A1 | Elementary | Beginners
If you can say your name, ask Where is the toilet?, and read a simple bus sign — but freeze when someone speaks at normal speed — you're at A1. That's not a problem to fix; it's the level where most learners actually live for a while, and recognising it lets you pick the right material instead of drowning in advanced grammar that wasn't meant for you yet.
A1 is the starting level of the CEFR framework, covering basic everyday communication: greetings, introductions, simple personal questions, present-tense forms of be/have/do, and core determiners and prepositions.
Difficulty: Easy
If a textbook leaves you confused, sometimes the issue isn't the topic — it's that the practice material is layered with extra complications. Filtering by Easy strips that away. You get one rule at a time, in plain everyday language, with no trick questions. It's how you make a shaky foundation solid before stacking more on top.
The Easy difficulty tag marks beginner-level questions and challenges — typically A1 or early A2. Single-rule focus, short sentences, common vocabulary, one clear correct answer.