To beA0–A2

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Am, is, are, was, were and will be: the verb for name, age, nationality, job, feelings and place. Be needs no helper and the subject is always in the sentence: Are you a student? It is cold.

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CheatsheetA0–A2

Tense	Question			Statement			Negative
Tense	Verb	Subject	Rest	Subject	Verb	Rest	Subject	Verb	Rest
A2Future	Will	I	be late?	I	will be	late.	I	won't be	late.
		you		You			You
		he		He			He
		she		She			She
		it		It			It
		we		We			We
		they		They			They

Present	Am	I	late?	I	am	late.	I	am not	late.
	Are	you		You	are		You	aren't
	Is	he		He	is		He	isn't
		she		She			She
		it		It			It
	Are	we		We	are		We	aren't
	Are	they		They	are		They	aren't

A1Past	Was	I	late?	I	was	late.	I	wasn't	late.
	Were	you		You	were		You	weren't
	Was	he		He	was		He	wasn't
		she		She			She
		it		It			It
	Were	we		We	were		We	weren't
	Were	they		They	were		They	weren't

OverviewA0

be has its own form in each tense: will be for the future, am / is / are for the present, was / were for the past.

be needs no helper: in questions it goes before the subject, in negatives it takes not.
Present and past forms change with the person; will be is the same for everyone.
you takes are and were, for one person and for many.

Present: short formsA0

Subject	Full form	Short form
I	I am a student.	I'm a student.
you	You are late.	You're late.
he	He is at home.	He's at home.
she	She is happy.	She's happy.
it	It is cold.	It's cold.
we	We are friends.	We're friends.
they	They are teachers.	They're teachers.

Speech and messages use the short forms.
Negatives: isn't and aren't are usual; I'm not is the only short form with I.
A noun subject takes is (singular) or are (plural): My parents are doctors.

Present: questions and short answersA0

Form	Example
be + subject	Are you a student?
wh-word + be + subject	Where are you from?
wh-word + be + subject	What is your name?
wh-word + be + subject	How old are you?
wh-word + be + subject	How are you?

A short answer repeats be; the positive answer takes the full form: Are you tired? — Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.

Past: was and wereA1

Form	I / he / she / it	you / we / they
+	I was at home.	We were at home.
−	She wasn't at home.	They weren't at home.
?	Was he at home?	Were you at home?

A short answer repeats was / were: Were you there? — Yes, I was. / No, I wasn't.
Birth takes was / were born: I was born in 1995.
Time words: yesterday, last night, last week, in 2010.

Future: will beA2

Use	Example
A future state or place	I'll be at home tomorrow.
Predictions	It will be sunny at the weekend.
Questions about the future	Will you be there?

Short forms: I'll be, she'll be, won't be.
More about will: Simple Tenses.

UseA0

Use	Example
Name	My name is Anna.
Age	I'm 20. / He is 30 years old.
Nationality and origin	She's Spanish. / We're from Madrid.
Job	He's a teacher.
Description	The house is big.
Feelings and states	I'm hungry. / They're tired.
Place	The keys are on the table.
Weather, time, dates	It's sunny. / It's 5 o'clock.

A job takes a / an: He is a teacher. See Articles.
Weather and time use the subject it: It is cold. For there is, see There is / there are.

Typical errorsA0–A2

✗	✓	Rule
Do you be a student?	Are you a student?	be makes questions by itself
She are happy.	She is happy.	he / she / it → is
A1We was at home.	We were at home.	you / we / they → were
A1Did you be at home?	Were you at home?	be makes past questions by itself
A2I will at home tomorrow.	I will be at home tomorrow.	will + be