This document provides information on conjugating the verb "to be" in English. It lists the affirmative, negative, contracted and question forms of the verb for each subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they). It also provides examples of questions using the verb and positive and negative short answers. The key aspects covered are the different forms of the verb to be depending on whether it is being used in an affirmative, negative or question structure.

1. AFFIRMATIVE FORM
(+)
NEGATIVE FORM (-)
QUESTIONS (?)
VERB TO BE
(SER O ESTAR)

2. VERB to BE FULL FORM
I (subject pronoun) AM (verb) yo soy/estoy
YOU ARE tú eres/estas
HE Is él es/está
SHE IS ella es/está
IT IS esto es/está
WE ARE nosotros,-as somos/estamos
YOU ARE vosotros,-as sois/estáis
THEY ARE ellos,-as son/están

3. CONTRACTED/SHORT FORM
I´M
YOU’RE
HE’S
SHE’S
IT’S
WE’RE
YOU’RE
THEY’RE

4. VERB to BE
You ALWAYS have to use a SUBJECT PRONOUN
with a verb: HE is Peter NOT is Peter
I is always written in capital letters: I am your English
teacher NOT i am your English teacher.
Use HE for a man, SHE for a woman, IT for a thing or
animal in the singular: He is my father. She is my
friend Mary. It is a big dog.
YOU is used for the singular (tú, usted) and for the
plural (vosotros, ustedes)
Use THEY for people, animals and things in the
plural: They are my friends Mary and Peter. They are
books.

5. VERB BE NEGATIVE FULL
FORM
Put NOT after the verb BE to make negative
sentences:
I AM NOT yo no soy/estoy
YOU ARE NOT tú no eres/estas
HE Is NOT él no es/está
SHE IS NOT ella no es/está
IT IS NOT esto no es/está
WE ARE NOT nosotros,-as no
somos/estamos
YOU ARE NOT vosotros,-as no
sois/estáis
THEY ARE NOT ellos,-as no son/están

6. NEGATIVE CONTRACTED/SHORT
FORM
 You can contract are not (aren’t), is not (isn’t).
 I’m not is different, you can only contract the subject pronoun (I)
with the positive form of BE .
 I’M NOT
YOU AREN’T
HE ISN’T
SHE ISN’T
IT ISN’T
WE AREN’T
YOU AREN’T
THEY AREN’T

7. VERB to BE - QUESTION FORM (?)
AM I?
ARE YOU?
IS HE?
IS SHE?
IS IT?
ARE WE?
ARE YOU?
ARE THEY?

8. POSITIVE SHORT ANSWERS
YES, I AM
YES, YOU ARE
YES, HE IS
YES, SHE IS
YES, IT IS
YES, WE ARE
YES, YOU ARE
YES, THEY ARE

9. NEGATIVE SHORT ANSWERS
NO, I’M NOT
NO, YOU AREN’T
NO, HE ISN’T
NO, SHE ISN’T
NO, IT ISN’T
NO, WE AREN’T
NO, YOU AREN’T
NO, THEY AREN’T

10. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
In questions put the verb TO BE (AM, ARE,
IS) before THE PRONOUS (I, YOU, etc.):
Are you English? NOT You are English?
Do not use contractions in positive short
answers: Are you Spanish? Yes, I am NOT
Yes, I’m.
In negative answers, you can use both full or
contracted forms: Are you Irish? No, I am not
or No, I’m not.