Affirmative

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

/ am You are is = He is is = She is is = It is

Tom

Ann

My ticket

Tom and I are = We are

Ann and you are = You are

Tom and Ann are = They are

Short form negative short forms

I'm I'm not

You're You're not= You aren't

Tom's = He's He's not = He isn't

Ann's = She's She's not= She isn't

My ticket's = It's It's not = It isn't old

We're We're not= We aren't

You're You're not = You aren't

They're They're not = They aren't

10.7 Notes on the present form of 'be'

1 Short forms never occur at the end of a sentence: / don't know where they are

There are two negative short forms (e.g You aren't and You're not) and there is no difference in their use. The short negative forms can stand on their own {I'm not/They aren't). The affirmative short forms {I'm, etc.) cannot stand on their own. Only the full affirmative forms can do this: Are you ready? - Yes, / am No, I'm not

3 Note the formation of negative questions and negative question tags [> 13.14, 13.18] with /. The (rare) full form is Am I not?, but this contracts to Aren't I.? (Not *Amn't I...?*):

Aren't I late? Why aren't I invited? I'm late, aren't

- negative question: Am I not late?

- negative Wh?-question: Why am I not invited?

negative question tag: I'm late, am I not?

Aren't I is only possible in negative questions/negative question
tags and is never used in negative statements in standard English:
/ am not late I'm not late, (the only possible contraction)
There are no variations with other persons: e.g.
He isn't late. Isn't he late? He's late, isn't he?
4 The non-standard form ain't, in place of am not. is not and are not
[also > 10.30n8], is frequently heard in all persons and is avoided
by educated speakers (except perhaps in joking):
Ain't you late? He ain't late.
I ain't late. They ain't late.