English Tenses · Start with the foundations
Verb to be – Am, Is, Are, Was & Were
“I am a student.” “She isn’t here.” “Were you at work yesterday?” Learn to talk about people, places and feelings in the present and the past.
100 questions · 10 per round · No sign-in needed
Choose the form for the person and the time.
1. What does “be” mean?
Be helps us describe who someone is, how they feel, where they are and what something is like. Its form changes with the person and the time.
People and jobs
I am a learner.
She is a support worker.
He was a chef ten years ago.
Places
We are at college now.
The keys are on the desk.
They were at home yesterday.
Feelings and descriptions
I am happy.
The room is quiet.
You were tired last night.
Be is not an action like work or drive. “I am a driver” describes my job. “I drive a bus” describes an action or routine.
2. Choose the correct form
| Subject | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| I | am | was |
| You | are | were |
| He / She / It | is | was |
| We / They | are | were |
| One person or thing: Amina, the shop | is | was |
| More than one: my friends, the shops | are | were |
You takes are or were whether you mean one person or several people.
Present: am / is / are
I am at college now.
She is a nurse.
We are busy at the moment.
Past: was / were
I was at college yesterday.
She was a nurse ten years ago.
We were busy last week.
3. Positive, negative and question patterns
+ Positive
Subject + am/is/are/was/were + details
She is ready.
They are at home.
He was late.
We were busy.
− Negative
Subject + am/is/are/was/were + not + details
She is not ready.
They are not at home.
He was not late.
We were not busy.
? Question
Am/Is/Are/Was/Were + subject + details?
Is she ready?
Are they at home?
Was he late?
Were we busy?
Do not add do, does or did. Say “Are you tired?”, not “Do you are tired?” Say “Was she late?”, not “Did she was late?”
4. Contractions: shorter forms
Present positive forms
I am → I’m
You are → You’re
He is → He’s
She is → She’s
It is → It’s
We are → We’re
They are → They’re
Negative forms
I am not → I’m not
is not → isn’t
are not → aren’t
was not → wasn’t
were not → weren’t
“She isn’t here” and “She’s not here” both mean “She is not here”.
Keep the apostrophe in contractions. There is no usual short positive form of was or were: write “They were busy”.
5. Yes/No questions and short answers
Present questions
“Am I in the right room?” → “Yes, you are.” / “No, you aren’t.”
“Are you ready?” → “Yes, I am.” / “No, I’m not.”
“Is she at work?” → “Yes, she is.” / “No, she isn’t.”
“Are they students?” → “Yes, they are.” / “No, they aren’t.”
Do not finish a positive short answer with a contraction. Say “Yes, I am”, not “Yes, I’m”. Say “Yes, she is”, not “Yes, she’s”.
Past questions
“Were you at college yesterday?” → “Yes, I was.” / “No, I wasn’t.”
“Was he late?” → “Yes, he was.” / “No, he wasn’t.”
“Were they at home?” → “Yes, they were.” / “No, they weren’t.”
When someone asks about you, use I to answer about yourself. The verb may change: “Were you…?” → “I was…”.
6. WH-questions
Question word + am/is/are/was/were + subject + details?
- Where are you now?
- How is your mother?
- Why is the office closed today?
- Where was the appointment yesterday?
- Why were they late last night?
- What time was the meeting yesterday?
To ask about someone’s identity, we can say “Who is she?” To ask which person was present, we can say “Who was at the meeting?”
7. Time expressions and common mistakes
Present: now, at the moment, these days.
Past: yesterday, last night, last week, two days ago, in 2020.
Words such as today do not always tell you the tense on their own: “I am tired today” describes how I feel now. “I was tired earlier today” describes an earlier time. In the exercises, follow the instruction to use the present or the past.
- “I is tired.” → I am tired.
- “You was late.” → You were late.
- “They was at home.” → They were at home.
- “She not is ready.” → She is not ready.
- “Where you are?” → Where are you?
Spelling: learn am, is, are, was and were as complete forms. Do not add -s or -ed: “She was busy”, not “She beed busy”.
Audio uses your device’s English (UK) voice when available. No sound plays automatically.
8. Your practice space
Choose an activity. Each round has 10 questions. Type answers, choose an option or build a sentence. Read the feedback before moving on.
Full forms and standard contractions are accepted. When an instruction says present or past, use that time. Capital letters and final punctuation do not affect your score. Each answer is checked once per round; you can practise missed questions afterwards.
The final assessment draws from the practice bank. It is a learning check, not a qualification test.
Your round
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10. Print and practise
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View worksheet questions and answers
- Use the present. Complete the sentence: I ___ ready for my lesson now.
Answer: am - Use the present. Complete the sentence: We ___ in the classroom now.
Answer: are - Use the present. Complete the sentence: My neighbours ___ friendly.
Answer: are - Use the past. Complete the sentence: I ___ at the dentist yesterday.
Answer: was - Use the past. Complete the sentence: We ___ at the market yesterday.
Answer: were - Use the present. Complete the negative sentence: I ___ free at the moment.
Answer: am not - Use the present. Complete the negative sentence: The milk ___ fresh today.
Answer: is not - Use the present. Complete the negative sentence: The keys ___ in my bag now.
Answer: are not - Use the past. Complete the negative sentence: I ___ ill yesterday.
Answer: was not - Use the past. Complete the negative sentence: They ___ hungry after work yesterday.
Answer: were not - Use the present. Complete the question: ___ I in the right room now?
Answer: Am - Use the present. Complete the question: ___ the library open today?
Answer: Is - Use the past. Complete the question: ___ your parents in Manchester last weekend?
Answer: Were - Use the present. Build a yes/no question. Use all the words.
Words: now / clean / rooms / the / Are
Answer: Are the rooms clean now? - Use the present. Build a yes/no question. Use all the words.
Words: now / here / safe / we / Are
Answer: Are we safe here now? - Make this negative. Keep the same subject and details: I am ready for my lesson now.
Answer: I am not ready for my lesson now. - Make this negative. Keep the same subject and details: You are very helpful.
Answer: You are not very helpful. - Make a yes/no question. Keep the same subject and details: You were early for work yesterday.
Answer: Were you early for work yesterday? - Correct the mistake. Write the complete sentence: They was at college yesterday.
Answer: They were at college yesterday. - Correct the mistake. Write the complete sentence: Was they at work yesterday?
Answer: Were they at work yesterday?
Keep practising
Try another activity, revisit a rule or use a grammar video to support your learning.
ESOLish · Am, Is, Are, Was & Were
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Write your answers. Keep the same subject when changing sentences. Full forms and contractions are both correct.
Verb to be · Answer key
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