To be: Present Simple 1 (Lesson)

Course Description

In this lesson, we will focus on the verb "to be" in the Present Simple tense. You will learn how to form positive and negative sentences, use short forms in conversation, and apply "to be" to talk about identity, weather, places, and age. Through examples and practice, you will develop confidence in using "to be" correctly in everyday English.

Learning Outcomes

Understand the usage of the verb "to be" in the Present Simple tense.
Recognize the different forms of "to be" (positive, negative, short forms) for singular and plural subjects.
Use "to be" correctly to describe identity, places, age, and weather.
Apply short forms of "to be" in everyday spoken English.

Examples

Let's look at some examples of the verbe "to be" in Present Simple:

This is my sister. She is eleven years old.

I am an engineer. This is my car.

My parents aren't here. They are at home.

We form the Present Simple of "to be" like this:

Full Form - Positive

Singular

I am

You are

He/she/it is

Plural

You are

We are

They are

Short Form - Positive

Singular

I 'm

You 're

He/she/it 's

Plural

You 're

We 're

They 're

Full Form - Negative

Singular

I am not

You are not

He/she/it is not

Plural

You are not

We are not

They are not

Short Form - Negative

Singular

I 'm not

You 're not

He/she/it 's not

Plural

You 're not

We 're not

They 're not

We usually use the short forms in speech:

She's my cousin. He's my teacher.

I'm from Canada. They're Korean.

We use "to be" as well:

to say who we are:

I'm Jane and this is my friend Jack. We're from USA.

I'm Peter and these are my cousins.

to talk about the weather:

It's hot outside.

It's a beautiful day.

to talk about places:

Paris is the capital of France.

Canada is in the north of America.

to talk about people's age:

I'm 32 years old.

My grandpa is very old.

Practice

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