Verb To Be Negative
The Verb To Be is different to other verbs because it doesn’t need an auxiliary verb to make it negative.
It’s an irregular verb and it has eight different forms:
be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been.
Verb To Be is used as a main verb to explain a state or condition, and as this is negative that means we use it to describe a state or condition we are not in
Verb To Be can also be used as an auxiliary verb (helping verb) along with a main verb and sometimes another auxiliary verb. Depending on the tense, simply add not after the Verb To Be and before the main verb. Look at other verb tenses for a more in depth explanation of these.
On this page, we’ll go through an understanding of each Verb To Be Negative form in Present Simple and Past Simple tenses, but be sure to go through each tense in greater detail as you advance your English studies.
Present Simple – Verb To Be Negative
To make a Present Simple negative sentence with the Verb To Be, we simply add not after the Verb To Be conjugation (am/is/are). We can contract the negative with the verb, or the negative with the subject for 1st person singular and 3rd person plural.
Past Simple – Verb To Be Negative
To make a Past Simple negative sentence with the Verb To Be, we simply add not after the Verb To Be conjugation (was/were). We can contract the negative with the verb, which is very useful in spoken English.
For Verb To Be Positive or Verb To Be Questions, click on either link…