Am, Is, Are…

A.

Observe the Table given below and compare the sentences.

I	Am	Speaking English.	=	Am	I	Speaking English?
You	Are	Speaking English.	=	Are	You	Speaking English?
He	Is	Speaking English.	=	Is	He	Speaking English?
She	Is	Speaking English.	=	Is	We	Speaking English?
It	Is	Speaking English.	=	Is	It	Speaking English?
We	Are	Speaking English.	=	Are	We	Speaking English?
They	Are	Speaking English.	=	are	They	Speaking English?

B.

Now look at the example given below

“Are you from England?’

You can answer closed questions with

“Yes” or “No”.

You can also answer closed questions with a slightly longer answer

“Yes, I am.”  Or “No, I’m not.”

Finally you can answer closed questions in the long form

“Yes, I am from England.” Or “No, I’m not from England.”

C.

For the verb be (am, is are…), we need is or are as question words, Study this telephone conversation. You are about to meet somebody you do not know:

# Are you older than me? ~ No, I’m not. We’re the same age.

# Are you taller than me? ~ No, I’m not. We’re about the same height.

# is your hair shorter than mine? ~ No, it’s not. It’s very long and straw blonde.

# Are your eyes the same colour as mine? ~ Mine are blue. What colour are yours? ~ Mine are green.

D.

We need is or are for yes/no questions when we talk about future arrangements and plans using either the present progressive or going to future:

Are you playing football Sunday afternoon?

~ Yes, I am.

Are you going to train on Sunday morning?

~ Yes, I am.

Is your son coming to watch you play?

~ No it’s not, but they’re going to show the highlights in the evening.

E.

We also need is or are for yes/no questions when we use the present progressive to talk about temporary actions and developing situations in the present. Note that for a question involving the subject pronoun I the verb form am is needed:

Are you working at the moment?

~ No, not really.

Am I disturbing you?

~ No, you’re not. Come in.

Are you laughing or crying?

~ Crying, mainly. This book is very sad.

Is it upsetting you?

~ Yes, it is. But I want to finish it.

Are you students? – Yes, we are students.

Are you teachers? – No, we are students.

Is there any water in this picture? – Yes, there is some water in that picture.

F.

Yes/no questions with the verb be (note that be can take many different forms: is / are / was / were / will be / going to be / has been / may have been / seems to be / etc.) are created by moving the verb be to the beginning of the sentence. In other words the subject and the verb change their positions in statements and questions.

Statement    : I am from England.                   Question   : Am I from England?