Verb To Be (Am/Is/Are) Exercises
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The verb to be: am, is, are
The verb 'to be' changes form to match its subject — am, is or are — and builds its own negatives and questions without any helper verb.
- Affirmative forms:
- Use am with I, is with he/she/it and other singular subjects, and are with you/we/they and plural subjects.
- Contractions:
- In speech and informal writing, am/is/are usually shrink into the subject: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're.
- Negative forms:
- Add not right after the verb: is not/isn't, are not/aren't — but am not has no standard contraction, so I'm not is the only option.
- Questions by inversion:
- Move the verb to the front of the sentence instead of adding do or does: Am I late? Is she home? Are they coming?
- Short answers:
- Answer with subject plus the verb only, and don't contract the positive form: Yes, I am. No, he isn't.
- No auxiliary needed:
- Unlike action verbs, to be never uses do/does/did to form negatives or questions — that's what sets it apart from a verb like work or live.
Examples
I'm the new hire, actually — this is my first week.
Contraction of am with the subject I.
He's not the one who booked the hotel, I am.
's here is a contraction of is, and 'not' makes it negative.
They aren't answering the phone, so let's just email them.
aren't = are not, the negative form for plural subjects.
Is this seat taken, or can I sit here?
Question form: is moves in front of the subject 'this seat'.
We're not from here — we just moved last month.
we're + not for the negative; note that were/weren't would be past tense, not used here.
Are you free to talk now? — Yes, I am.
Question with are, answered with a short answer; the positive short answer isn't contracted.
Practice exercises
Choose the Correct Form
Choose the correct form of the verb to be.
1.My brother ___ a taxi driver.
2.___ you ready to order?
3.We ___ not from this city.
4.I ___ sure this is the right address.
5.The kids ___ at school right now.
6.___ she your coworker?
Fill in the Blank
Type the correct form of the verb to be.
Put the Words in Order
Click the words in the correct order to build the sentence.
13. Build the sentence:
14. Build the sentence:
15. Build the sentence:
16. Build the sentence:
True or False
Decide if each statement is true or false.
17.The correct short answer to 'Are you tired?' is 'Yes, I are.'
18.'He isn't' is a correct contraction of 'he is not'.
19.'Am not' can be contracted to 'amn't' in standard English.
20.In questions with the verb to be, the subject comes before the verb, just like in statements.
21.'They're' is short for 'they are'.
The One Verb That Skips the Usual Rules
Most English verbs follow the same routine for negatives and questions: you bring in do or does, and the main verb barely changes. 'She works' becomes 'She doesn't work' and 'Does she work?' The verb to be refuses that routine entirely. It handles its own negatives and its own questions, with no helper verb standing in front of it.
That independence starts with how to be changes shape depending on who or what it's attached to. I am, you are, he is, she is, it is, we are, they are — three different words doing the job that other verbs do with just one. Get the subject right and the form of be almost picks itself: singular people and things pull is, I pulls am, and everything else — you, we, they, and any plural — pulls are.
Negatives are just as direct: put not right after the verb. She's not ready. They aren't home. He isn't answering. The one gap in the pattern is am — there's no standard short form for am not, so I'm not carries the whole job on its own, in speech and in writing.
Questions work by swapping the usual order. Instead of dropping in do or does, the verb itself moves to the front: Is she ready? Are they home? Am I too early? Short answers follow the same subject-plus-verb pattern, and they skip the contraction: Yes, I am, not 'Yes, I'm.'
None of this overlaps with verbs like work, live or study, which is why this page stays separate from simple present exercises — that page deals with do and does; this one deals with a verb that never needed them. The exercises above run through all three pieces — affirmative, negative and questions — the way they actually show up together in real sentences.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between am, is and are?
They're all forms of the verb to be, just matched to different subjects: am goes with I, is goes with he/she/it and other singular subjects, and are goes with you/we/they and plural subjects.
How do I make questions with the verb to be?
Move the verb in front of the subject instead of adding do or does — Is he ready? Are they home? Am I late? The word order does the job that do/does does for other verbs.
Is there a contraction for 'am not'?
Not in standard written English — I'm not is the accepted form. You might hear 'ain't' in casual speech, but it isn't something to use in writing or formal contexts.
Do I need do or does with the verb to be?
No. To be builds its own negatives and questions, so you never add do/does the way you would with a verb like work or live — that's one of the biggest differences between the two.
How is this different from the simple present exercises page?
Simple present exercises cover action verbs like work, live and study, which need do/does for negatives and questions. This page covers only the verb to be, which follows its own separate pattern.