How to Speak English Fluently: Use of ‘are’ with ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’
Learn to speak English easily through the TLP Spoken English Course. The course is designed specially to facilitate self-learning. It is organised into units to help you learn step by step in a simple, systematic and in an easy way. To be able to speak fluently you should go through all the units and do the exercises. To know more you can read: How to Use the Course Content?
In the previous unit you have learnt to make Questions using ‘is’ with ‘it’. In this unit you will learn the “Use of ‘are‘ with ‘you‘, ‘we‘ and ‘they‘”.
Use of ‘are’
Positive Form | Negative Form | Negative Contracted Form. |
are | are not | aren’t |
We use ‘are’ with ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ in the present. We use ‘are’ with ‘you’ to refer to one person and also to more than one person. But we use ‘we‘ and ‘they‘ to refer to more than one person only.
Use of ‘are’ with ‘you’ (to refer to one person)
We use ‘are’ with ‘you’ —
- To identify or to talk about a person.
You are a student.
You are a cricketer.
You are an engineer.
You are a good boy/girl.
1 |
2 |
3 |
You |
are | a boy. a scientist. a builder. a player. an American. |
Make sentences using the above table. You can also use words from the following list or such other suitable words in column 3.
scholar astrologer musician auditor geologist pathologist
vendor hawker videographer magician farmer shopkeeper
milkman monk attender beautician
- To talk about a person’s physical, mental state or situation.
You are weak.
You are nervous.
You are safe.
- To talk about a person’s action which is in the present continuous state.
You are wasting money.
You are listening to music.
You are troubling me.
- To specifically refer to more than one person we use ‘you all’ or ‘you people’ with ‘are’.
You people are trainees.
You all are good students.
You people are alert.
You all are confident.
You people are doing well.
You all are improving.
‘Are’ with ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ (to refer to more than one person)
- To identify and to refer to more than one person.
You are devotees.
We are patients.
They are technicians.
1 | 2 | 3 |
You We They |
are | passengers. teachers. doctors. singers. drivers. |
Make sentences using the above table. You can also use words from the following list or other suitable words in column 3.
- To talk about more than one person’s physical, mental state or situation.
You are injured.
You are sober.
We are friendly.
We are late.
They are busy.
They are surprised.
1 | 2 | 3 |
You We They These people Those people |
are | active. strong. intelligent. late. duped. |
Make sentences using the above table. You can also use words from the following list or such other suitable words in column 3.
attractive aged anaemic well-dressed
cruel sharp depressed guilty
thrilled glad worked up relaxed
obese optimistic helpless polite
- To talk about an action which is in the present continuous state.
You are working hard.
You are helping them a lot.
We are working all day.
We are waiting for the guests.
They are dancing well.
They are cooking food for everyone.
1 | 2 | 3 |
You We They |
are | fighting. watching TV. washing clothes. working hard. joking. |
Make sentences using the above table. You can also use words from the following list or other suitable words in column 3.
Exercise: Write more sentences using the examples, which you can use in your day-to-day conversation and practice orally.
Contracted forms of ‘are’ with ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’
Positive Form | Negative Form | ||
Long Form | Short Form | Long Form | Short Form |
You are | You’re | You are not | You’re not/You aren’t |
We are | We’re | We are not | We’re not/We aren’t |
They are | They’re | They are not | They’re not/They aren’t |
Positive Statement Short Form
You are a good person. You’re a good person.
You are responsible students. You’re responsible students.
You are handsome. You’re handsome.
You are working hard. You’re working hard.
We are Indians. We’re Indians.
We are going for shopping. We’re going for shopping.
They are criminals. They’re criminals.
They are hosting a party. They’re hosting a party.
Positive Statement Negative Statement/Short Form
You are a singer. You are not/aren’t a singer.
We are going out. We are not/aren’t going out.
They are sleepy. They are not/aren’t sleepy.
They are chain snatchers. They aren’t chain snatchers.
Exercise: Write more sentences using the examples, which you can use in your day-to-day conversation and practice orally.
Previous : Questions using ‘is’ with ‘it’
Next: Questions using ‘are’ with ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’
You can check the meanings of the words in English Oxford Living Dictionaries