Verb To Be

VERB TO BE (AM-IS-ARE)

The verb be is used in the following patterns

With nouns to describe the following ideas:

TO BE SOMEONE (Walter, Renato, Ana, Juliana, etc.)

I am Walter – My name is Walter.

He is Renato – His name is Renato.

She is Ana – Her name is Ana.

They are Ana and Juliana – Their names are Ana and Juliana.

 

TO BE SOMETHING (a teacher, an executive, a secretary, etc.)

I am a teacher.

He is an executive.

She is a secretary.

They are nurses.

 

TO BE SOMEWHERE (at home, at work, in bed, at school, etc.)

I am at home.

He is at work.

She is bed.

They are at school.

 

With adjectives (tired, tall, good, late, etc.)

I am tired.

He is tall.

She is good.

They are late.

 

With the –ing form to make the continuous aspect

I am watching TV.

He is working.

She is studying.

They are talking.

 

With a prepositional phrase

John and his wife are from Manchester.

The flowers are on the table.

All the examples given above refer to the Present Tense; however, the Verb To Be can and will be used in all verbs tenses, in English. Let us start with the Present form, the Past form, and the Participle form so you can begin to understand its use.

VERB TO BE
PRESENT	PAST	PARTICIPLE
AM-IS-ARE	WAS-WERE	BEEN

Affirmative

I AM	I WAS	I HAVE BEEN
YOU ARE (singular)	YOU WERE	YOU HAVE BEEN
HE IS	HE WAS	HE HAS BEEN
SHE IS	SHE WAS	SHE HAS BEEN
IT IS	IT WAS	IT HAS BEEN
WE ARE	WE WERE	WE HAVE BEEN
YOU ARE (plural)	YOU WERE	YOU HAVE BEEN
THEY ARE	THEY WERE	THEY HAVE BEEN

Interrogative

AM I?	WAS I?	HAVE I BEEN?
ARE YOU?	WERE YOU?	HAVE YOU BEEN?
IS HE?	WAS HE?	HAS SHE BEEN?
IS SHE?	WAS SHE?	HAS HE BEEN?
IS IT?	WAS IT?	HAS IT BEEN?
ARE WE?	WERE WE?	HAVE WE BEEN?
ARE YOU?	WERE YOU?	HAVE YOU BEEN?
ARE THEY?	WERE THEY?	HAVE THEY BEEN?

Negative

I AM NOT	I WAS NOT	I HAVE NOT BEEN
YOU ARE NOT	YOU WERE NOT	YOU HAVE NOT BEEN
HE IS NOT	HE WAS NOT	HE HAS NOT BEEN
SHE IS NOT	SHE WAS NOT	SHE HAS NOT BEEN
IT IS NOT	IT WAS NOT	IT HAS NOT BEEN
YOU ARE NOT	YOU WERE NOT	YOU HAVE NOT BEEN
WE ARE NOT	WE WERE NOT	WE HAVE NOT BEEN
THEY ARE NOT	THEY WERE NOT	THEY HAVE NOT BEEN

Contraction of To Be in the Present Form: (no contractions in the interrogative form)

Affirmative		Interrogative	Negative
I AM	I’M	AM I?	I AM NOT	I’M NOT	I AIN’T
YOU ARE	YOU’RE	ARE YOU?	YOU ARE NOT	YOU’RE NOT	YOU AREN’T
HE IS	HE’S	IS HE?	HE IS NOT	HE’S NOT	HE ISN’T
SHE IS	SHE’S	IS SHE?	SHE IS NOT	SHE’S NOT	SHE ISN’T
IT IS	IT’S	IS IT?	IT IS NOT	IT’S NOT	IT ISN’T
WE ARE	WE’RE	ARE WE?	WE ARE NOT	WE’RE NOT	WE AREN’T
YOU ARE	YOU’RE	ARE YOU?	YOU ARE NOT	YOU’RE NOT	YOU AREN’T
THEY ARE	THEY’RE	ARE THEY?	THEY ARE NOT	THEY’RE NOT	THEY AREN’T

Contraction of To Be in the Past Form: (no contractions in the affirmative and interrogative form) 

Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
I WAS	WAS I?	I WAS NOT	I WASN’T
YOU WERE	WERE YOU?	YOU WERE NOT	YOU WEREN’T
HE WAS	WAS HE?	HE WAS NOT	HE WASN’T
SHE WAS	WAS SHE?	SHE WAS NOT	SHE WASN’T
IT WAS	WAS IT?	IT WAS NOT	IT WASN’T
WE WERE	WERE WE?	YOU WERE NOT	YOU WEREN’T
YOU WERE	WERE YOU?	WE WERE NOT	WE WEREN’T
THEY WERE	WERE THEY?	THEY WERE NOT	THEY WEREN’T

Contraction of To Be in the Participle Form: (no contractions in the interrogative form)

Affirmative		Interrogative	Negative
I HAVE BEEN	I’VE BEEN	HAVE I BEEN?	I HAVE NOT BEEN	I HAVEN’T BEEN
YOU HAVE BEEN	YOU’VE BEEN	HAVE YOU BEEN?	YOU HAVE NOT BEEN	YOU HAVEN’T BEEN
HE HAS BEEN	HE’S BEEN	HAS SHE BEEN?	HE HAS NOT BEEN	HE HASN’T BEEN
SHE HAS BEEN	SHE’S BEEN	HAS HE BEEN?	SHE HAS NOT BEEN	SHE HASN’T BEEN
IT HAS BEEN	IT’S BEEN	HAS IT BEEN?	IT HAS NOT BEEN	IT HASN’T BEEN
WE HAVE BEEN	WE’VE BEEN	HAVE WE BEEN?	YOU HAVE NOT BEEN	WE HAVEN’T BEEN
YOU HAVE BEEN	YOU’VE BEEN	HAVE YOU BEEN?	WE HAVE NOT BEEN	YOU HAVEN’T BEEN
THEY HAVE BEEN	THEY’VE BEEN	HAVE THEY BEEN?	THEY HAVE NOT BEEN	THEY HAVEN’T BEEN

Using To Be in the answer of questions: (Positive)

Question	Possible Answer	Short answer	Complete answer	Wrong
Am I single?	Yes	Yes, I am.	Yes, I’m single.	Yes, I’m.
Are you tired?	Yes	Yes, you are.	Yes, you’re tired.	Yes, you’re.
Is he busy?	Yes	Yes, he is.	Yes, he’s busy.	Yes, he’s.
Is she pretty?	Yes	Yes, she is.	Yes, she’s pretty.	Yes, she’s.
Is it expensive?	Yes	Yes, it is.	Yes, It’s expensive.	Yes, it’s.
Are we happy?	Yes	Yes, we are.	Yes, we’re happy.	Yes, we’re
Are you a doctor?	Yes	Yes, I am.	Yes, I’m a doctor.	Yes, I’m.
Are they here?	Yes	Yes, they are.	Yes, they’re here.	Yes, they’re.

However, in every day spoken English, among native speakers, a simple YES as an answer is possible you must be a little careful with its use. Don’t worry too much about it, just watch your intonation. Sometimes YES is just a YES, a very short way to answer a question, there’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes and again, depending on your intonation you may sound rude, like: “Yes, but I don´t want to talk about it.” or “Yes, but stop asking me questions, I´m not interested in a conversation.” A simple yes as an answer can be used among friends and family, with work mates, to show that you´re concentrated in something, busy with something or simply giving a simple, very short answer to a question.

Using To Be in the answer of questions: (Negative)

Question	Short answer 1	Short answer 2	Short answer 3	Complete answer
Am I single?	No, I am not.	No, I´m not.	No, I ain´t.	No, I´m not/ain´t single.
Are you tired?	No, You are not.	No, You´re not.	No you aren´t.	No, You´re/aren´t tired.
Is he busy?	No, he is not.	No he´s not.	No, he isn´t.	No he´s not/isn´t busy.
Is she pretty?	No, she is not.	No, she´s not.	No, she isn´t.	No she´s not/isn´t pretty.
Is it expensive?	No, it is not.	No, it´s not.	No, it isn´t.	No it´s not/isn´t expensive
Are we happy?	No, we are not.	No, we´re not.	No, we aren´t.	No, we´re not/aren´t happy.
Are you a doctor?	No, I am not.	No, I´m not.	No, I ain´t.	No, I´m not/ain´t a doctor.
Are they here?	No, they are not.	No, they´re not.	No, they aren´t	No, they´re not/aren´t here.

Notice that a simple NO as an answer is also possible, depending on the situation and don´t forget to watch your intonation.

ENGLISH	PORTUGUESE
Am/Is/Are	Sou/estou
Was/Were	Fui/estava
Been	Sido/estado
Present
I am at home	Eu estou em casa.
He is tired	Ele esta cansado.
She is a good student	Ela é uma boa aluna/studante.
They are good friends	Eles são bons amigos.
It is late	É tarde.
He is a fool	Ele é um tolo.
It is very good	É muito bom.
It´s expensive (affirmative)	É caro.
Is it expensive? (interrogative)	É caro?
It is not (it isn´t) expensive (negative)	Não é caro.
You are a good person	Você é uma boa pessoa.
Are you at home?	Você está em casa?
Is she busy?	Ele está ocupado?
Are we late?	Nós estamos atrasados?
Are you two friends?	Vocês dois são amigos (as)
Is he a good student?	Ele é um bom aluno / studante?
Is it new?	É novo?
Is he here?	Ele está aqui?
Is he there?	Ele está? (normalmente ao telefone.)
He´s not here.	Ele não está (aqui).
They are not married	Eles não são casados.
I´m not happy	Eu não estou feliz.
She´s not alone	Ela não está sozinha.
Past
I was at home	Eu estava em casa.
He was tired	Ele estava cansado.
She was a good student	Ela foi/era uma boa aluna/studante.
They were good friends	Eles foram/eram bons amigos.
It was late	Era tarde.
He was a fool	Ele foi/era um tolo.
It was very good	Foi/era muito bom.
It was expensive (affirmative)	Foi/era caro.
Was it expensive? (interrogative)	Foi/era caro?
It was not (it wasn´t) expensive (negative)	Não foi/não era caro?
You were a good person	Você foi/era uma boa pessoa.
Were you at home?	Você estava em casa?
Was she busy?	Ele estava/era ocupado?
Were we late?	Nós estávamos/chegamos atrasados?
Were you two friends?	Vocês eram/foram amigos?
Was he a good student?	Ele era/foi um bom aluno/estudante?
Was it new?	Era novo?
Was he here?	Ele estava aqui?
Was he there?	Ele estava lá/ai?
He wasn´t here.	Ele não estava aqui.
They weren´t married	Eles não foram/eram casados.
I wasn´t happy	I não fui/era feliz.
She wasn´t alone	Ela não estava só/sozinha.
Participle
I have been at home	Eu tenho estado/ficado em caso.
He have been tired	Eu tenho estado/andado cansado.
She has been a good student	Ela tem sido uma boa aluna/estudante.
They have been friends	Eles tem sido amigos.
It was late	x.x.x.x.x.x
He´s been a fool	Ele tem sido um tolo.
It has been very good	Tem sido muito bom.
It was expensive (affirmative)	x.x.x.x.x.x
Was it expensive? (interrogative)	x.x.x.x.x.x
It was not (it wasn´t) expensive (negative)	x.x.x.x.x.x
You´ve been a good person	Você tem sido uma boa pessoa.
Have you been you at home?	Você tem estado/ficado em casa?
Has she been she busy?	Ela tem estado ocupada?
Have we been we late?	Nós temos estado/chegado atrasados.
Have you two been friends?	Vocês tem sido amigos?
Has he been a good student?	Ele tem sido um bom aluno/estudante?
Was it new?	x.x.x.x.x
Has he been here?	Ele tem estado aqui?
Has he been there?	Ele tem estado lá?
He hasn´t been here.	Ele não tem estado aqui.
They haven´t been married	Eles já não estão mais casados.
I haven´t been happy	Eu não tenho sido feliz.
She hasn´t been alone	Ela não tem estado só/sozinha.

If you think you can help me with the Portuguese version, please do so. Check the Appendix for more on Present Perfect. I know this is not a part of the Verb To Be, but it may help to clear some of your doubts with the use of the PARTICIPLE FORM.