am

am — verb

1. the form of the verb 'be' that is used when the speaker refers to themself with

1.verbintransitiveA1
Definition

the form of the verb 'be' that is used when the speaker refers to themself with the pronoun 'I' — it connects the subject to a description, identity, location, or action in progress.

Example

I am a nurse at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taoyuan.

I am + noun phrase (identity)

Right now I am very tired because I woke up before sunrise.

I am + adjective (state)

Grammar Patterns

I am + noun phrase

I am + adjective

I am + present participle

I am + prepositional phrase

Usage Note

This form can only be used with the pronoun 'I' as the subject. Other subjects require different forms: 'you are', 'he/she/it is', 'we are', 'they are'. This is the most common verb in English and serves as both a linking verb and an auxiliary verb.

Common Mistakes

He am a doctor.
He is a doctor.
'am' is only used with the pronoun 'I', never with 'he', 'she', 'it', 'you', 'we', or 'they'.
I am student at university.
I am a student at a university.
When 'am' is followed by a singular countable noun describing identity, the article 'a' or 'an' is needed.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: abbreviation/3

'AM' and 'MA' are the exact same degree — Master of Arts — but different abbreviation styles. 'AM' is older and still used at some institutions like Harvard and the University of Edinburgh, while 'MA' is the modern standard worldwide. A 'postgraduate degree' is any degree pursued after a bachelor's, including both coursework-based (MA, MSc) and research-based (MPhil, PhD) qualifications. A 'graduate degree' is a broader term that covers both master's and doctoral degrees. In practice, if you see 'AM' on a CV or diploma, it means the same level of education as 'MA' — one to two years of advanced study in arts, humanities, or social sciences.

AM ↗MA ↗Master of Artspostgraduate degreegraduate degree

Common collocations

Nouns

  • AM radio
  • AM station
  • AM broadcast

Phrases

  • wake up at [time] am
  • start at [time] am
  • open at [time] am
  • earn an AM
  • AM in [subject]

Prepositions

  • at [time] am
  • on AM

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

The verb 'am' comes from Old English 'eom', from Proto-Germanic '*izmi', from the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₁ésmi' (I am). The time abbreviation 'a.m.' is from Latin 'ante meridiem' (before noon), adopted into English in the 17th century. 'AM' for amplitude modulation was coined in the early 20th century with the development of radio technology. 'AM' for Assembly Member dates from the creation of the Welsh Assembly in 1999. The chemical symbol 'Am' for americium was assigned when the element was synthesized in 1944 at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory.