am / is / are

Keeping Be When It Fits

Level 1

Am, is and are remain usable in Singapore English, including local conversation. Do not delete be mechanically or call an otherwise natural full-form sentence wrong just because it has a copula.

How It Works

Full be forms can identify someone, describe a state or locate a thing. They are not banned in local conversation. Speakers may mix full and omitted forms naturally, depending on what they are saying and how they want to say it.

With full forms, familiar agreement patterns remain available: I am, she is, they are. Contractions such as I'm and she's are available too. Do not make a full-form sentence an incorrect example simply to make the lesson look more local. Singlish includes choices between constructions, not a requirement to delete the same words in every clause.

Examples (4)

  1. I'm ready.

    I am ready.

  2. She is my neighbour.

    She is my neighbour.

  3. The tickets are in my bag.

    The tickets are in my bag.

  4. We are not late.

    We are not late.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

am / is / areLevel 1Keeping Be When It Fits

Learn This First

Compare a local adjective predicate with the full be option without treating either as automatically wrong.