Auxiliaries
Use of Is, Am, Are
Definition
- An auxiliary verb (or helping verb as it is also called) is used to give information about the tense or voice of the main verb.
- The auxiliaries “is, am, are” also help us to complete a sentence.
- They are also called as 'be' verbs or auxiliary verbs.
Examples:
Is
We use ‘is’ with singular nouns and singular pronouns.
Examples:
- In the first example, ‘Ravi’ is a singular noun, hence we have used ‘is’ in the sentence.
- In the second example, ‘He’ is a singular pronoun, hence we have used ‘is’ in the sentence.
Are
We use ‘are’ with plural nouns and plural pronouns.
Examples:
- In the first example, ‘Rahul’ and ‘Amit’ are two people. Thus, we have used ‘are’ in the sentence.
- In the second example, ‘They’ is a plural pronoun, hence we have used ‘are’ in the sentence.
Am
We use 'am' with the pronoun ‘I’.It is used to denote an action that is happening at the current moment.
Examples:
Exceptions
Remember, the verb 'are' is used with 'you' in both singular and plural form.
Examples:
