Saying No with 'To Be'
Build confidence stating what isn't true, answering questions smoothly, and correcting misunderstandings in English. Learn the core patterns for negative 'to be' sentences in both the present and past.
Like Duolingo, but for Saying No with 'To Be'. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Speaking in the Present and Real Conversations and the Past. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Saying No with 'To Be'
- 'Not' sits immediately after the form of 'to be'
- The negative particle modifies the state described, not the subject before it
- 'I' pairs uniquely with 'am'
- Negative statements with 'I' take 'am not' rather than 'is not' or 'are not'
- Single people or objects take 'is'
- A singular negative state requires 'is not'
- 'You', 'we', and 'they' consistently pair with 'are not'
- 'You' takes 'are not' whether talking to one friend or a whole group
- 'To be' forms negatives on its own by simply adding 'not'
- Helper verbs like 'do' and 'does' are never used alongside 'to be'
- Uncontracted forms like 'is not' and 'are not' sound robotic or intensely formal in everyday chat
- Native speakers contract negative 'to be' forms to keep a smooth, flowing spoken rhythm
- The negative word 'not' fuses onto 'is' or 'are'
- The letter 'o' in 'not' drops out and becomes an apostrophe: 'isn't' and 'aren't'
- Standard English does not have a contracted verb form like 'amn't'
- For first-person singular 'to be', you must contract the pronoun and verb instead: 'I'm not'
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Saying No with 'To Be' the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
In the sentence 'The tea is not hot,' what is the word 'not' actually changing?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Saying No with 'To Be' takes you
- 1
Speaking in the Present
- Placing 'Not' Where It Belongs
- Sounding Natural with Contractions
- 2
Real Conversations and the Past
- Short Answers and Polite Corrections
- Taking Negatives into the Past
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Saying No with 'To Be' is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Saying No with 'To Be' today.
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