BASICS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

PRESENT TENSE BE, DEMONSTRATIVES, POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES, PRESENT CONTINOUS, CAN, PREPOSITIONS

PRESENT TENSE BE
The

verb BE has three forms: AM, IS, ARE, which we have to use according to the pronoun or subject.
TO BE

Occupations

Nouns

Adjectives

Places

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES
Subject I You He She It We They Verb Form AM ARE IS IS IS ARE ARE Example I am a teacher. You are a student. He is in the lab. She is my sister. It is a city. We are friends. They are doctors.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES
You can make negative sentences similar to the sentences before. The only different is to add NOT after am, is, are, as you can see in the following chart.

She is not sad

They are not in the school

NEGATIVE SENTENCES
I am not He She It We You They I`m not He`s not = He isnt Shes not = She isnt Its not = It isnt Were not = We arent Youre not = You arent Theyre not = They arent

is not

are not

YES / NO QUESTIONS
In

English we have to kind of questions: Yes/No questions and Wh-questions. The Yes / No Questions are called that because the answers always start with Yes or No Remember to answer Yes/No questions you have to pay attention to the subject.

YES / NO QUESTIONS
Affirmative Statement: John and Peter are students. Yes / No question: Are John and Peter students? Short Answers: Yes, they are / No, they arent Full /Complete Answers: Yes, they are students. / No they are not students. Affirmative Statement: Mary is tall and thin. Yes / No question: Mary tall and thin? Is Short Answers: Yes, she is / No, she isnt Full /Complete Answers: Yes, she is tall and thin. / No, she is not tall and thin

WH - QUESTIONS
The

wh-questions look for information accoding to the question word. In this kind of questions you never answer Yes or No, because they are asking for some information. The answer is a statement with the information according to the question word.

WH - QUESTIONS
Wh-word What Information about Things Name Occupations Activities People Places State Form / manner Example What is this? It is a book. What is your name? Roberth. What do you do? I am a driver. What is he doing? Hes working Who is the director of the school? Carlos Samaniego. Where is he? In the house. How are you? I am sad. How is Loja? It is small.

Who Where How

REVIEW
Statement I am a teacher. Negative Statements I am not a teacher. Yes/No Question Am I a teacher? Short Answers Yes, you are / No, you are not Yes, I am / No, I am not Yes, he is / No, he is not Yes, she is / No, she is not Yes, it is / No, it is not Yes, we are / No, we are not Yes, they are / No they are not

You are a student. You are not a student. Are you a student? He is in the lab. She is my sister. It is a city. We are friends. He is not in the lab. She is not my sister. It is not a city. We are not friends. Is he in the lab? Is she my sister? Is it a city? Are we friends? Are they doctors?

They are doctors. They are not doctors.

DEMONSTRATIVES
We use THIS / THESE when the objects are near to the speaker.

This is a blackboard
THIS +Singular Nouns

These are papers

THESE + Plural Nouns

DEMONSTRATIVES
We use THAT / THOSE when the objects are far from the speakers.

That is a lake. Those are mountains

THAT + Singular Nouns THOSE + Plural Nouns

DEMONSTRATIVES
Questions What is that? That is an airplane. Is that a bird? No, it is an airplane.

What are those? Those are books Are those books? Yes, they are books.

PLURAL NOUNS
Noun ending s, x, ch or sh Forming the plural Add -es Examples boss - bosses tax - taxes bush - bushes fly - flies try - tries curry curries cat - cats face - faces day days

consonant + y

Change y to i then Add es Add -s

most others

IRREGULAR PLURAL
Noun type Ends with -fe Forming the plural Change f to v then Add s Change f to v then Add es Add es Examples knife - knives life - lives wife - wives half - halves wolf - wolves loaf - loaves potato - potatoes tomato - tomatoes volcano - volcanoes

Ends with f

Ends with - o

IRREGULAR PLURAL
Noun type ALL KINDS Forming the plural Change the vowel or Change the word or Add a different ending Singular and plural are the same Examples man - men foot - feet child - children person - people tooth - teeth mouse - mice sheep deer fish (sometimes)

Unchanging

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
I You He She It We They My Your His Her Its Our Their

NOUN

POSSESSIVE ADJTECTIVES

Her pants are blue

His shirt is new

This is our house

This is her cat

POSSESSIVE FORM S

Kevins wife is Rose. His wife is Rose.

Charlies book is black.

The Childs mother is happy

PREPOSITION OF PLACE
IN (dentro de) In the house In a room In a car in a shop in a town in a garden

ON (sobre una superficie) On a shelf on a wall On a plate on the table On a balcony on a door AT (lugar especfico) At the bus station at home At the door at the top At work at the end of

PRESENT CONTINOUS

The present continous tense is used to describe activities that happen now, that means activities that are develop in the moment of speaking

Subject BE I He She It We You They Am Is

-ING FORM Singing Singing

Are

Singing

PRESENT CONTINOUS
AFFIRMATIVE I am dancing You are eating He is sleeping She is reading It is running We are walking They are studying NEGATIVE I am not dancing You are not eating He is not sleeping She is not reading It is not running We are not walking They are not studying YES/NO QUESTIONS Am I dancing? Are you eating? Is he sleeping? Is she reading? Is it running? Are we walking? Are they studying?

RULES
Verb ending in... How to make the -ING form Double the consonant, then add ING Remove E, then add INGcome Add ING Examples

1 vowel + 1 consonant 1 vowel + 1 consonant + E[anything else]

swim - swimming hit - hitting get getting coming lose - losing live living say - saying go - going walk - walking

CAN / CANT
Can

is used to show ability

They can dance

He cant play the piano

He can play football

He can swim

He can skate

NEGATIVE AND QUESTIONS

AFFIRMATIVE I can cook NEGATIVE I can not cook YES/NO QUESTIONS Can I cook? SHORT ANSWERS Yes, you can / No,you cant Yes I can / No I cant Yes, he can / No, he can`t Yes, she can / No, she cant Yes, it can / No, it cant Yes, we can / No, we cant

You can dance You can not dance Can you dance? He can play She can swim It can run We can sing They can walk He can not play She can not swim It can not run We can not sing They can not walk Can he play? Can she swim? Can it run? Can we sing?

Can they walk ? Yes, they can / No, they cant