GRAMMAR LESSONTeacher: Pedro Henrique

The Verb “to be”

Normally we use the verb to be to show the status or characteristics of something or someone. It says what I am, what you are or what something is.

The verb to be in the Present tense have three forms: AM, IS and ARE.

The Verb “to be”

We use AM only in the first person of the singular, I. example: I am a teacher.

We use IS in the third person of the singular, He, She and IT. Example: She is beautiful. HE is a great friend.

We use are to the second person of the singular You, and to all the other personal pronouns of the plural, We, You and They. Example: They are very smart. We are friends.

The Verb “to be”

We can use the verb to be in the contract form, in the affirmative or negative, but we can not use it in the interrogative in the contract.

Remember that the not will always come after the verb to be, and not to the other verb.

And in the interrogative we just change the verb, putting it in the first place, see in the models.

The Verb “to be”.Personal Pronoun

Verb to be

Personal + verb to be Contract Form

I AM I AM I’M

YOU ARE YOU ARE YOU’RE

HE IS HE IS HE’S

SHE IS SHE IS SHE’S

IT IS IT IS IT’S

WE ARE WE ARE WE’RE

YOU ARE YOU ARE YOU’RE

THEY ARE THEY ARE THEY’RE

The Verb “to be” negative form.

Personal + verb to be

Personal + verb to be+ not Contract form

I AM I AM NOT I’M NOT I’M NOT

YOU ARE YOU ARE NOT YOU’RE NOT YOU AREN’T

HE IS HE IS NOT HE’S NOT HE ISN’T

SHE IS SHE IS NOT SHE’S NOT SHE ISN’T

IT IS IT IS NOT IT’S NOT IT ISN’T

WE ARE WE ARE NOT WE’RE NOT WE AREN’T

YOU ARE YOU ARE NOT YOU’RE NOT YOU AREN’T

THEY ARE THEY ARE NOT THEY’RE NOT THEY AREN’T

The Verb “to be” interrogative form.

Personal + verb to be Interogative

I AM AM I…..?

YOU ARE ARE YOU…..?

HE IS IS HE……?

SHE IS IS SHE……?

IT IS IS IT……..?

WE ARE ARE WE……?

YOU ARE ARE YOU………?

THEY ARE ARE THEY………….?

SIMPLE PRESENTThe English Grammar in pieces

The simple present

We use the simple present to express actions: In the progress now, Repeated actions, Facts or generalizations or Scheduled events in the near future.

Form of the Simple Present in the affirmative.

Verb + s/es/ies in the 3rd person of the singular. Examples: I’m nineteen years old. (verb to be, am in the

contract form) He lives in London. (verb to live, for the 3rd

person of the singular) They live in New York. ( verb to live, for the 3rd

person of the plural)

Some Rules There are some rules to change the verbs,

and they are: Verbs ended with (ss, sh, ch, x, z, o) we put the

ES at the final of the verb, examples: She watches TV in the afternoon.

Verbs ended with ( consonant +y) we put the IES at the final of the verb, examples: He studies to the final exam with his friends.

To the other verbs we put the S at the final. It stays in the middle of the path.

Notes

The verb To Be, the verb To Have, the Modal Verbs and the verb There To Be, don’t suffer changes in the simple present!!!

Form of the Simple Present in the negative.

We make the use of the auxiliary verb DO/DOES. For the 3rd person of the singular we use Does, and the other personal pronouns Do.

Personal Pronoun

Auxiliary Verb Contract Form

I Do not Don’t

You Do not Don’t

He Does not Doesn’t

She Does not Doesn’t

It Does not Doesn’t

We Do not Don’t

You Do not Don’t

They Do not Don’t

Form of the Simple Present in the negative.

We make the use of the auxiliary verb DO/DOES. For the 3rd person of the singular we use Does, and the other personal pronouns Do and we do the same change of the verb to be.

Personal Pronoun

Auxiliary Verb

I Do I……?

You Do You….?

He Does He...?

She Does She...?

It Does It...?

We Do We...?

You Do You...?

They Do They...?

GRAMMARThe Present Continuous Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Use the Present Continuous with Normal Verbs to express the idea that something is happening now, or to an action that is still in progress now, to show the close future or to indicate recurrence of an action.

The form of Present Continuous

It’s formed by the verb to be + the verb in the present + ING. I am watching TV.He is washing the car.

Look in the first sentence we have the verb to be, followed by the verb (to watch) add of ING ate the final.

Some verbs are exceptions, the verbs: Ended with E. We take of the E and add ING. To love. “ She is loving the course.” The verb “to be” is an exceptions, you only add

ING. He is being a jerk with her.

The form of Present Continuous

The verbs ended with double EE, we only add ING. She is seeing the shrink.

The verbs ended with Consonant, Vowel, Consonant, we double the last consonant and add the ING. They are running on the streets.

The verbs ended with IE, we take of the IE and add Y+ING. The witness is lying to the police.

All the other verbs is only ad ING at the final of the verb!

Using the PCT to actions that are happening now.

Examples: You are learning English now. You are not swimming now. Are you sleeping? I am sitting. I am not standing.

Using the PCT to longer actions that are in progress now.

Examples: I am studying to become a doctor. I am reading the book Tom Sawyer. Are you working on any special projects at

work? Aren't you teaching at the university now?

They are used normally in daily talking, as a family dinner or chat with friends.

Using the PCT to the near future.

Examples: I am meeting some friends after work. I am not going to the party tonight. Is he visiting his parents next weekend? Isn't he coming with us tonight?

This is a way of talk about something that will happening soon.

Using the PCT to recurrent actions.

Examples: She is always coming to class late. He is constantly talking. I wish he would shut up. I don't like them because they are always

complaining.

This is a manner of say that something happens in a great frequency of time, remember of use “always” or “constantly” between the verb to be and the other verb.