Bonjour! Welcome to your second lesson.
In our last lesson, you learned how to make positive statements with the verb 'to be', such as "I am a nurse" and "He is a student." This was an important first step.
Today, we will build on that foundation. You will learn how to form negative sentences (e.g., "I am not a student") and how to ask questions (e.g., "Are you from France?"). Mastering this will allow you to have more detailed and realistic conversations, which is a key part of your goal to speak and understand everyday English.
1. Making Negative Sentences with 'To Be'
Making a positive sentence negative is very simple in English. You just add the word not after the verb 'to be' (am, is, are).
The structure is: Subject + be verb + not + information
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Positive: I am tired.
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Negative: I am not tired.
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Positive: She is a doctor.
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Negative: She is not a doctor.
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Positive: They are busy.
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Negative: They are not busy.
Contractions in Negative Sentences
In everyday conversation, English speakers almost always use shortened forms called contractions. For negative sentences, there are two common ways to do this.
Let's watch a video that explains these negative forms and their contractions very clearly.
Simple Present Be verb (Affirmative, Negative, Questions)
This video from Laura's English School will explain how to add 'not' to form negative sentences and show you the different contractions you can use.
Watch the video from 04:26 to 07:27. Pay close attention to the two ways of forming contractions, for example, 'you are not' can become 'you're not' or 'you aren't'.
As the video showed, here is a summary of the contractions. Both forms are correct and very common.
| Full Form | Contraction (Type 1) | Contraction (Type 2) |
|---|---|---|
| I am not | I'm not | (not possible) |
| You are not | You're not | You aren't |
| He is not | He's not | He isn't |
| She is not | She's not | She isn't |
| It is not | It's not | It isn't |
| We are not | We're not | We aren't |
| They are not | They're not | They aren't |
Important Note: For "I am not," there is only one contraction: "I'm not".
Test your understanding!
Change these positive sentences into negative sentences using a contraction. (For sentences with two possible contractions, either one is correct).
- He is my brother.
- They are from Canada.
- I am tired.
- The hospital is open.
Show answer
- He isn't my brother. / He**'s not** my brother.
- They aren't from Canada. / They**'re not** from Canada.
- I**'m not** tired.
- The hospital isn't open. / The hospital**'s not** open.
2. Asking 'Yes/No' Questions with 'To Be'
Now, let's learn how to ask questions. To turn a statement into a question, we change the order of the subject and the verb 'to be'. This is called inversion.
The structure is: Be verb + Subject + information?
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Statement: You are a nurse.
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Question: Are you a nurse?
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Statement: He is from Paris.
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Question: Is he from Paris?
These are called "Yes/No questions" because the answer is typically 'yes' or 'no'.
How to Answer 'Yes/No' Questions
When answering these questions, we usually use short answers, not a full sentence.
- Question: "Are you a nurse?"
- Correct Answer: "Yes, I am." or "No, I'm not."
- Less Common: "Yes, I am a nurse."
Let's return to the video to see how to form these questions and their short answers.
Simple Present Be verb (Affirmative, Negative, Questions)
The next part of the same video explains how to invert the subject and verb to ask a question, and how to give correct short answers.
Watch from 07:27 to 10:07. Notice the word order in the questions. For the short answers, pay attention to the rule that you cannot use a contraction in a positive short answer (e.g., 'Yes, I am,' not 'Yes, I'm').
Here is a helpful chart that summarizes everything we've covered so far: the positive, negative, and question forms of 'to be'.
Test your understanding!
Turn these statements into questions, and then provide both a positive and a negative short answer.
Example: You are a student.
Question: Are you a student?
Answers: Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.
- She is your colleague.
- They are ready.
- He is tired.
Show answer
- Question: Is she your colleague?
Answers: Yes, she is. / No, she isn't. (or No, she's not.) - Question: Are they ready?
Answers: Yes, they are. / No, they aren't. (or No, they're not.) - Question: Is he tired?
Answers: Yes, he is. / No, he isn't. (or No, he's not.)
3. Practice: Listening to Conversations
The best way to get comfortable with grammar is to see and hear it in real situations. Let's listen to a few very short conversations that use the questions and negative forms we learned today.
Beginner English Conversation #2 Be Verbs with Yes-No Questions
This video from elllo productions contains four short, simple conversations. Listening to them will help you recognize 'Yes/No' questions and answers in natural speech.
Watch from 00:24 to 01:25. Listen for questions like 'Are you...?', 'Is it...?', and 'Are they...?' and the short answers people give.
Try to practice speaking by repeating some of the lines from the video out loud. For example:
- "Are you hot?" "Yes, I am."
- "Is your house big?" "Yes, it is."
- "Are they new?" "Yes, they are."
Conclusion
Excellent work! You can now use the verb 'to be' to make positive and negative statements, and to ask and answer simple questions. This is a huge step forward in your ability to have a basic conversation.
Key Takeaways:
- To make a sentence negative, add
notafter the verb 'to be'. Example: "He is not here." - Use contractions like
isn't,aren't, andI'm notin spoken English. - To ask a question, invert the subject and the verb. Example: "Is he here?"
- Answer 'Yes/No' questions with short answers like "Yes, he is." or "No, he isn't."
- Never use a contraction in a positive short answer (e.g.,
Yes, he's).
In our next lesson, we will continue building your descriptive skills by learning how to use possessive adjectives like my, your, his, and her to talk about belongings and relationships. For example, "This is my friend" or "Where is her office?". Keep up the great work