Our first song in the new series: Unit 1, the present. And the most important verb of all.
Learn from Songs · Unit 1: Present time · A2–B1
I Am What I Am
A song about being yourself: the verb to be, the present simple for who you are and what you do (and don’t do), what-clauses (I am what I am), and the vocabulary of pride and self-respect, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria, the oracle at Delphi, and a burning bush.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Let me guess. To be?
SOPHIA
To be. This song uses it to say the simplest and hardest thing in the world: this is me.
DEMETRIA
I know this song! It’s very loud.
Before you listen: the song
New York, 1983
“I Am What I Am” was written by Jerry Herman for a Broadway musical, La Cage aux Folles (1983). In the musical, a character who is tired of hiding and apologising for the way he lives stands alone on the stage and sings that he is proud of who he is.
The same year, the American singer Gloria Gaynor, famous for “I Will Survive”, recorded it as a disco song. Since then it has become an anthem for anyone who wants to stop hiding and to accept themselves.
The singer doesn’t want anybody’s praise, and she doesn’t want anybody’s pity. She doesn’t make excuses. Her life is her own, and she is exactly what she is.
I am what I am.
Listen: who is she?
PHILO
Listen once. How does she feel? Proud, sad, angry, happy? Does she want to change?
SOPHIA
Then listen again, and notice how many sentences start with I am and I don’t. Answer Section A.
🎤 Listen to the song: “I Am What I Am” (Jerry Herman, 1983), sung by Gloria Gaynor.Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “I Am What I Am”, Gloria Gaynor.Read the lyrics →
To be: who you are
DEMETRIA
I am Demetria. Marcos is noisy. We are students. And Philo isn’t tall!
SOPHIA
Very good, though perhaps not kind. I am (I’m), you / we / they are (’re), he / she / it is (’s). Negative: I’m not, isn’t, aren’t. Questions: Am I…? Is she…? Are you…? In songs, singers often use the full form, I am, to sound strong.
The present simple: what you do, and what you don’t
MARCOS
She doesn’t want pity. She doesn’t make excuses. She lives her own life.
SOPHIA
The present simple for facts about you, habits and feelings: I live, she lives (+s with he / she / it). Negatives: don’t / doesn’t + base verb (she doesn’t want, not she doesn’t wants). Verbs like want, need, like, love, believe are almost always in the present simple, not the continuous.
What I am, who I am
PHILO
I am what I am. Why what, and not who?
SOPHIA
Good question. What here means the thing that: I am the thing that I am, my whole nature. Who I am is about identity: I know who I am. Both are common: Take me as I am. This is who I am. I know what I want.
Sophia’s comparison: Delphi and the burning bush
SOPHIA
On the temple of Apollo at Delphi, two words are carved: Know yourself. And the poet Pindar wrote: become what you are, once you have learned what that is.
DEMETRIA
So the Greeks thought you have to discover who you are first?
PHILO
And when Moses asked God his name at the burning bush, God answered: I am who I am. In our Greek scrolls: I am the one who is.
MARCOS
So the oldest answer to “Who are you?” is… the verb to be!
SOPHIA
Exactly, Marcos. You remember our comic, “The Verb That Names Itself”. The smallest verb in the language says the biggest things.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I am / you are / she is | to be: who and what you are | I am what I am. |
| I’m not / isn’t / aren’t | negative of be | She isn’t ashamed. |
| I live / she lives | present simple: facts, habits, feelings | She lives her own life. |
| don’t / doesn’t + base verb | negative present simple | She doesn’t want pity. |
| what I am / who I am | what- and who-clauses | I know who I am. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. How does the singer feel about herself?
2. What does she NOT want from other people?
3. Does she want to hide?
4. What does she say about excuses?
5. Whose life is it?
6. Which tense does she use most?
B · Be and the present simple
Write the missing word.
7. I what I am. (be)
8. She want your pity. (negative)
9. He his own life. (live)
10. We ashamed. (be, negative)
11. you proud of yourself? (question, be)
12. I know I am. (identity)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “She doesn’t wants any excuses.”
14. “I am what I am.”
15. “He is agree with her.”
16. “I don’t need your pity.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Discuss. 1. Why do you think this song became so popular? 2. Is it always good to say “this is who I am, take it or leave it”? When is it good to change? 3. What do you think “Know yourself” means? Is it easy?
Write (80–120 words). This is who I am. Write about yourself in the present simple: who you are, what you like and don’t like, what you do every day, and one thing you will never change. Start with I am… and use I don’t… at least twice.
Listen to the song again, and sing along with the I ams!Watch the official video →