TOPIC: Verb to present

OBJECTIVE: To know and use verb to be in present

THE VERB TO BE

The verb to be is the most important verb in the English language. It is difficult to use because it is
an irregular verb in almost all of its forms. In the simple present tense, to be is conjugated as
follows:

Affirmative forms of the verb to be Are we?

Are you?
Subject Full Contracted
Pronouns Form Form

I am 'm Are they?

you are 're

Negative Forms of the verb to be:
he/she/it is 's

we are 're Subject Full Contracted

Pronouns Form Form
you are 're
I am not 'm not
they are 're
you are not aren't

he/she/it is not isn't

Interrogative forms of the verb to be:
we are not aren't

Am I? you are not aren't

Are you? they are not aren't

Is he/she/it?

Examples:

Is Brad Pitt French?

No, he isn't. He's American.

What about Angelina Joli? Is she American, too?

Yes, she is. She is American.

Are brad Pitt and Angelina Joli French?

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No, They aren't. They are American.

USES OF VERB TO BE:

*To express your nationality

ACTIVITY 1

1. Complete. Use am, is, are. 2. Draw and complete for you and
two friends.

My
name................
My name....Timmy.

I.....10 years old

I.....a clown. I..................years old. My best

friends .........................
My best friends..... Jack and Sue.
They....................
They.......rock
stars. ..............years old.

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3. Write true answers. 4. Write the plural.
a) Are you a student? a) She is a girl.
b) Are you from the USA? b) He is a teacher.
c) Where are you from? c) It is a deer.
d) Are you twelve? d) I am a boy.
e) How old are you? e) You are a child.
f) Is your friend from Rome? f) I am a banker.
g) Where is your friend from? g) It is a box.

5. Correct the mistakes. 6. Read the information and write a

a) Sarah and I am sisters. short text about this person.
b) Ben and Tim is at school.
c) Horses and cows is animals.
Name: Lucy Surname: Pitt
d) England are a country.
e) Tim are from America. Age: 13

Job: Student

Nationality: French

7. Read and complete. 8. Turn these sentences into

a) .......she a dancer? No,................ negative.
b) .......they from Japan? Yes,..........
a) She is a young girl.
c) .......he a bus driver? No,.............
d) .......it a pet? No,....................
b) I am a detective.
e) .......they dirty? Yes,.................. c) They are ugly cats.
f) .......Mary from Italy? No,............ d) We are strong girls.
g) .......Mr Dane a doctor? Yes,......... e) Steven is from England.
h) .......that Kim? No,....................
f) You are a nurse.
i) .......you a pilot? No,..................
j) .......they penguins? Yes,.............. g) Hes a basketball player.
k) .......you dancers? Yes,................ h) They are bottles.
l) .......they brown? No,.................. i) That is a fish.
j) The black cat is small.
k) This boy is lazy.

9. Write questions using the verb to be and some of these words.

MICE CLEVER DRESS YELLOW CLEAN SUNNY

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 ACTIVITY 2

Complete the sentences with AM, IS Negate the following sentences.

or ARE.
1. Jane is in the kitchen.
1. John ____eleven years old.
____________________________
2. Mary and Jane _____at the park.
2. Mark and Frank are teachers.
3. I ____ a student.
_____________________________
4. My brothers ______on holiday.
3. Im in the garden.
5. She____ in London.
_____________________________
6. Your cat____ lovely.
4. Were on the Moon.
7. Tom and I _____ friends.
____________________________
8. I ____ at school.
5. Hes from France.
9. They _____ doctors.
______________________________
10. My favourite colour____ blue.
6. The cats are on the fence.
11. I ____sleepy.
______________________________
12. You _____good at English.

Make questions with the help of the

Write down the words in the correct

clues.
order.
1. you / on the phone
1. farmer / I / a / am
_____________________________?
____________________________
2. your dad / at work
2. arent / they / Canada / from
_____________________________?
____________________________
3. John / a policeman
3. it / Thursday / is / today
_____________________________?
_____________________________?
4. I / a student
4. your / teacher / mum / a / is
_____________________________?
_____________________________?
5. elephants / big [4] 5. cousin / my / is / he
_____________________________?
_____________________________.
6. you / happy
 To be- Past Tense
AFFIRMATIVE

WH QUESTIONS
Question Answer Example
What Thing What is that?
When Time When is the game?
Who Person Who do you live with?
Where Place Where do you live?
Why Reason Why are you happy?
How Directions/Feelings How are you?

STRUCTURE

WH questions in simple present use do or be: * When is your class?

WH Questions with "do"

WH + DO/DOES + SUBJECT + VERB

Examples:

* Where do you work?

* When does she wake up? WH Questions are similar to YES/NO questions
except they
* Who is your brother?
have WH words at the start.
WH Questions with "be"
Examples:
WH + BE + SUBJECT
Are you from Canada?
Examples:
* Where are you from?
* Where are you from?

* Who is that man?

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 6) ................ is your telephone number?

Here are some example questions and answers: 7) ................ are you from?

8) ................ is your best friend?

* Where are you from? 9) ................ is your e-mail?

* I am from Japan. 10) ................ are you? I'm fine, thanks.

11) ................ is your graduation? Next week.

* What is your name? 12) ................ is she crying? Because she is sad.

* My name is Jacob. 13) ................ is your last name? Gonzalez.

14) ................ is your favourite actor? Anthony

Hopkins.
* When do you wake up?
15) ................ old is your cat? Two years old.
* I wake up at 7:30 am.

* Why are you angry?

II. Choose the right option.
* I am angry because I did not pass my exam.
1) ................. is the concert?

What Who Why When

Activity Open Questions
2) ................. is Cristiano Ronaldo from?

How When Where Why

What - When - Where - Why - Who - How
3) ................. are you so happy? I'm getting
married!
I. Choose the correct alternative
When How What Why
1) ................ are my keys?
4) ................. is your brother? He is still sick.
2) ................ is the problem?
Why How Where What
3) ................ is your favourite singer?
5) ................. are you late? Because of the traffic.
4) ................ is your birthday?
Where When Why How
5) ................ old are you? I'm ten years old.

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VERB TO BE PAST TENSE

To
Subjet Examples You were not You were not at the party.
Be

They were not They were not friends.

I was I was tired this morning.

You were You were very good.

To Be - Negative Contractions
He was He was the best in his class.
The can make negative contractions of the verb To
She was She was late for work. Be in the Past tense by joining the verb (was or
were) and n't (e.g. were not = weren't). We don't
It was It was a sunny day. make a contraction of the subject and the verb
(e.g. I was).
We were We were at home. I was not tired this I wasn't tired this
OR
morning. morning.
You were You were on holiday.
You were not crazy. OR You weren't crazy.
They were happy with their test
They were
results. He was not married. OR He wasn't married.

She was not famous. OR She wasn't famous.

To Be - Negative Sentences
It was not hot yesterday. OR It wasn't hot yesterday.
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not
after the verb (was or were). We were not invited. OR We weren't invited.
* Notice that we don't have contractions for To Be in Past
Subject To Be Examples You were not at the You weren't at the
Tense affirmative sentences. OR
party. party.
I was not I was not tired this morning. To Be - Questions
They were not friends. OR They weren't friends.
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the
You were not You were not crazy.
Subject.

He was not He was not married.

Affirmative You were happy.

She was not She was not famous.

Subject Verb
It was not It was not hot yesterday.

We were not We were not invited.

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Question Was he from Japan? - Yes, he was (from Japan). The last part
Were you happy?
(from Japan) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid
repetition, when the meaning is clear
Verb Subject

Short
Question Short Answers
Answers**
Affirmative Question
Was I late? Yes, you were. No, you weren't.
I was late Was I late?
Were you sick? Yes, I was. No, I wasn't.
You were sick. Were you sick?
Was he surprised? Yes, he was. No, he wasn't.
He was surprised. Was he surprised?
Was she from
Yes, she was. No, she wasn't.
She was from Italy. Was she from Italy? Italy?

It was a big house. Was it a big house? Was it a big

Yes, it was. No, it wasn't.
house?
We were ready. Were we ready?
Were we ready? Yes, we were. No, we weren't.
You were early. Were you early?
Were you early? Yes, we were. No, we weren't.
They were busy. Were they busy?
No, they
Were they busy? Yes, they were.
weren't.
To Be - Short Answers

In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response ** With To Be, We don't use contractions in
to questions.
affirmative short answers.

1) They __________ at the hospital three days ago.

2) You ____________on the phone this morning.

3) The children_____________ quiet. They are always noisy.

4) Jari_______________ in Helsinki last week.

5) She______________ home for dinner last Wednesday.

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6) My dog __________ a German shepherd. It ________ a Labrador retriever.

7) There________________ a good film on TV yesterday.

8) We________________ in Brazil last summer. There _______ many beautiful beaches

there.

9) Fred and Wilma____________________at school this morning.

10) I ____________happy when I heard about the accident.

11) I ________________ in Guatemala last spring.

12) We ______________at school last Saturday.

13) Maria and I_____________ at home yesterday.

14) Robson ___________ happy yesterday. He had a lot of homework.

15) Bob and Mike_____________ Jenny's friends. They dont know her.

16) You ____________ very tired on Friday, because you _______ at home sleeping.

17) They ________________ in front of the supermarket to wait for me.

18) I _______________ in the museum. I __________________ at home.

19) She ____________in South Africa last month. She ________ in Spain.

20) Jane and Vicky____________late for school They are always late for school.

21) She is thirty now, so last year she _____________ twenty-nine.

22) _____________ it a good film?

23) I got married when I ____________ thirty.

24) It was a great day, but we _____________ so tired.

25) I didn't buy those earrings because they __________ugly.

26) When I _______________ a child we lived in the country.

27) Where ___________ you yesterday afternoon?

28) _______________the kids good while we were away?

29 The kids ____________ so naughty. The parents _______________ always angry.

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30) Why _________ he so sad? Because his girl friend broke up with him.

Ex.: Student A What was your school when you were 12?

Student B It was Santa Cruz School.

Student A Was it big?

Student B Yes, it was.

You Your Partner

1.What was your lunch yesterday? 1.What was your lunch yesterday?

2. What was the most beautiful city you 2. What was the most beautiful city you
have been to? have been to?

3. What was your first pets name? 3. What was your first pets name?

4. Who was your first teacher? 4. Who was your first teacher?

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 5. When were you sick last? 5. When were you sick last?

6. Why were you at home last night? 6. Why were you at home last night?

ARTICLES
Articles are classified into two categories: indefinite and definite.

The indefinite article a/an is used in general nouns and noun that have not been
specified. A/an is used with singular count nouns. *Generally, unspecific plural
nouns do not need to have an article ().

Examples Important notes

There is an aquarium in Central Park. Use a/an when you mention something for
a/an the first time.

This is a beautiful house. Use a/an to talk about one of a group of

things.

There are skyscrapers* in the

() downtown area. Dont use a/an before plural nouns.

How many hotels are there in San

Jos?

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 *Vocabulary:

Skyscrapers: rascacielos.

The definite article, the, is used with both count and noncount nouns. It shows that
the nouns are specific, special or unique.

Examples Important notes

The is used when an indefinite noun
My town has an aquarium. The aquarium is becomes definite as a result of
located in Central Park. being mentioned a second time.

The The oldest building in my town is the church.
Do you want to take the train or the bus?
Were going to the mall this weekend.
The is used to talk about something
specific.
The is used when the speaker and
the listener both know the thing or
person being spoken of.

() Parks are an important part of any city. Dont use the with plural nouns
when you are talking about things in
general.

Vocabulary:

Something: algo.

Speaker: hablante.

Listener: oyente.

Both: ambos (as).

Using the with names. There are many different rules of the with names. Here are
a few.

Examples Important notes

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 the president of Costa Rica Use the with titles
People the queen of England
Dont use the with titles + names of specific
President Kennedy people.
Queen Elizabeth
Japan Dont use the with names of streets, states,
Places Spain provinces, and most countries. There are
Argentina some exceptions, for example: the United
Costa Rica States, the Netherlands.

Buildings the Eiffel Tower The is usually used with names of buildings.
the Statue of Liberty

Historical the French Revolution The is usually used with names of historical
Events the Fall of the Berlin Wall events.

Vocabulary:

Queen: reina.

Title: ttulo diplomtico.

Buildings: edificios.

WRITE A- AN

Fill the spaces with the , a , or an :

Where did you buy that shirt? Did you get it in the old shop next to the station?

Where is ____ car? I thought I parked it here?

He's bought ____ new car.

He's ____ teacher and so is his wife.

There's ____ unusual butterfly outside. Look!

Change your mind! Don't take ____ job in that factory.

____ children need to go to bed now. They're tired.

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 French is ____ language which is largely derived from Latin (like Spanish and of course
Italian).

a / an or zero article

Fill the spaces with a / an or the zero article (-) :

Peter is _____ good man: he's always helping people out.

_____ [I]nvestment is required in order to fund the company's expansion.

The company is looking for _____ investors in order to fund expansion.

He is doing _____ research into the human genetic code.

He's a graduate of _____ Cambridge University.

They've sent her to _____ school which is excellent, but unfortunately quite far from their
house.

There are over _____ million people who are unemployed in my country.

They're living in _____ old apartment building next to the river.

For the indigenous people of the region, _____ fish is part of their staple diet.

There's _____ new restaurant in town. Would you like to try it?

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 PLURALS
Nouns are found in the singular or plural form.

1. Most words simply take S bedrooms gardens houses

kitchens swimming pools tennis courts

2. If the word ends in ch, sh, boxes buses churches

dishes gases glasses
s, ss or x then add es
3. If the word ends with a boys donkeys guys
vowel + -y, then add an holidays keys monkeys
s
4. If the word ends with a baby babies country party - parties
consonant + -y, then sky - skies countries
try - tries
drop the -y and add ies.

5. If the word ends with f or calf calves knife knives loaf loaves
shelf shelves thief thieves wolf wolves
fe, then drop the f and
add ves. chief - chiefs cliff - cliffs roof roofs
BUT:
6. If the word ends with an echoes heroes potatoes
tomatoes tornadoes volcanoes
o, then add es.
7. SOME words ending with an banjos kilos pianos
o simply add s. photos radios tobaccos

8. If the word ends in oo, cuckoos igloos zoos

simply add s.

9. If the word ends in eau, plateaus tableaus

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 then add an s or x. plateaux tableaux

10. If a word ends in us, add cactus syllabus thesaurus

cactuses syllabuses thesauruses
either es or replace the
cacti syllabi thesauri
us with an i.

11. Some words, usually names aircraft buck deer

of animals, keep the same fish moose reindeer
form in the singular and series sheep
plural form.

12. Some nouns always take a advice baggage bread

singular form because they coffee gold Hair
are uncountable. information knowledge paper
parking tea weather

13. Some words appear only in clothes earnings earrings

plural form. goods information mathematics
measles mumps news
pants pliers politics
police riches savings
scissors stairs thanks
trousers tweezers

14. Some words change in the child - children die - dice foot - feet
plural form. goose - geese louse - lice man - men
mouse - mice ox - oxen tooth - teeth
woman
women

15. In compound nouns, the last boy-friends break-ins Travel-agents

word is usually given the
plural.

16. In words containing a brothers-in-law hangers-on ladies-in-waiting

preposition, the word lookers-on runners-up sisters-in-law
BEFORE the preposition
takes the plural.

17. Abbreviations and initials are MPs pgs VIPs

made plural by adding-s.

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EXERCISE SINGULAR AND PLURALS
Excerpt from Rotten School by R.L.Stine

Write the noun in the correct form (singular or plural):

Tweet, tweet, tweet.

My bird alarm _________ (clock) woke me up gently. I opened my big brown _________(eye) and smiled.
Catch those ___________(dimple) in my _________ (cheek). I always wake up with a __________ (smile).

Hey, Im Bernie Bridges. Why shouldnt I smile? I had no ________(idea) today was the _______ (day) it
would all start. No _____ (idea) that today would lead to the Biggest Pie Battle in the history of the
__________ (school) maybe the __________(world).

How could I know? I was still half-asleep. I raised my _________(head). I could hear the other guys in
my _________ (dorm) rushing out to the Dining Hall to get _____________ (breakfast).

Hey, am I going to hurry? No way. I settled back on my feather ___________(pillow) and smiled some
more. I knew my faithful ____________(friend) Belzer would bring my ______________ (breakfast) in
_________(bed) every _____________(morning).

Good __________(kid), Belzer.

I sat up and stretched. Bernie, youve got it made! I told myself. I talk to myself a lot. I mean, who
else understands pure __________(genius)? I put on my __________(glasses). _____________ (sunlight)
poured through my ___________ (window). The ____________(curtain) fluttered in a cool _____________
(breeze). I gazed at my favourite _____________(poster) on the __________ (wall), the big ______________
(poster) of ME.

You probably go __________ (home) every ___________ (day) after____________ (school). Poor
_________(sucker). My ______________ (parents) travel all the ________(time). So they sent me to the
Rotten School, my __________ (home) away from ______________ (home).

Its a _________________________ (boarding school), see. That means I get to live in a ____________ (dorm)
with my _____________(friend). No _____________ (parent).

How cool is that?

Actually, we live in an old ____________ (house) called Rotten House. A whole __________ (bunch) of my
fourth- and fifth-grade friends live on my __________ (floor). We claimed the third __________ (floor)
because its good for dropping water______________( balloon) out the ______________ (window).

Mrs. Heinie is our _____________________ (dorm mother).

Shes really nice, but she has a_____________( job) to do.

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That means shes always snooping around, sniffing in ____________ (corners),

keeping an _________(eye) on us.

Bibliography

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-simple-present-be.php

https://www.google.com.co/search?q=THE+VERB+TO+BE+The+verb+to+be+is+the+most
+important+verb+in+the+English+language

http://www.cestadual.com/2013/dps_ef/ING_7.pdf

http://www.grammar.cl/Past/To_Be.htm

www.colegiolaasuncion.com/index.php

http://cis01.central.ucv.ro/litere/idd/cursuri/an_1/lb_engleza_an1_sem2_nedelcu.pdf

http://www.clearpointenglish.co.uk/Articles.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/plural.htm

http://es.slideshare.net/genglishteacher/english-book-2-student

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