GRAMAR IN ENGLISH

VERB TO BE The simple present of the verb to be This page will present the simple present of the verb to be: 

its form



and its use

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 Subject Pronouns Full Form Contracted Form I

am

'm

you

are

're

he/she/it

is

's

we

are

're

you

are

're

they

are

're

Interrogative forms of the verb to be: Am I? Are you?

Is

he/she/it?

Are we?

Are you?

Are they?

Negative Forms of the verb to be: Subject Pronouns Full Form Contracted Form I

am not

'm not

you

are not

aren't

he/she/it

is not

isn't

we

are not

aren't

you

are not

aren't

they

are not

aren't

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?



No, They aren't. They are American.

Use of the simple present of to be The principal use of the simple present is to refer to an action or event that takes place habitually, but with the verb "to be" the simple present tense also refers to a present or general state, whether temporary, permanent or habitual. 

I am happy.



She is helpful.

The verb to be in the simple present can be also used to refer to something that is true at the present moment. 

She is 20 years old.



He is a student.

Remember: 

I, you, he, she, it, you, they are subject pronouns (also called personal pronouns, a term used to include both subject and object pronouns.)



am, are, is are forms of the verb to be in the simple present.



'm, 're, 's are short (contracted) forms of am, are, is



'm not, aren't, isn't are short (contracted forms) of am not, are not, is not.

EXECISE: Fill in the blanks with the right subject / personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they): 1. Angelina Joli is American.

2. Brad Pitt is American, too.

isn't French. isn't German.

3. Brad and Angelina aren't French.

4. My friend and I are high school students.

5. The Statue of Liberty is in New York.

are American. aren't primary school students. isn't in Washington.

Fill in the blanks with the right form of to be ( am, are or is): 1.

you the new student?

2. Yes, I

.

3. Leila and Nancy 4. Nancy

Australian .

5. My sister and I 6. The girls

students.

tired.

7. These women 8. The tea

students.

beautiful.

delicious.

9. Nadia and Leila

friends.

10. The newspaper

cheap.

Choose the correct answer (negative or affirmative form of to be): 1. Is Julia Robert French? No, she

French.

2. What about Robert de Nero? Is he an American actor? Yes, he 3. Are New York and Los Angeles Spanish Cities? No, they cities.

4. Is Big Ben in Paris? No, it

.

Spanish

in Paris.

5. Is Mount Everest in Africa? No, it

in Africa. It is in Asia

SIMLPE PRESENT The simple present tense This page will present the simple present tense: 

its form



and its use.

Before you continue the lesson read the following passage and try to see how the verbs are formed and used.

James is a taxi driver. He drives a taxi. But on Sundays he doesn't drive his taxi. He stays at home.

The verb be, drive, stay are in the simple present. (more on the simple present of the verb to be)

The forms of the simple present The affirmative form of the simple present: I, you, we, they play.

He, she, it

plays.

Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an "s". For example, "he plays, she sings,it works..."

Examples: 

Nancy and James speak good German.



Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.



The children play in the garden every weekend.

The interrogative form of the simple present: Do

I, you, we, they play?

Does he, she, it Examples: 

Do you speak good German?



Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?

The negative form of the simple present: I, you, we,they do not

play.

don't He, she, it

does not doesn't

Examples: 

No, I don't speak German.



No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown

The use of the simple present: The simple present is used: 

to give your opinion - I like ice cream. I don't like spicy food.



to talk about schedules - The library opens at eight. It doesn't open at 7.



to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for breakfast every day. She doesn't eat cereal.



to give facts - The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn't circle the sun.

The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present: All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the third person singular (he, she, it) form: Examples: 

I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend.



My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.

So the rule is: He / she / it + Verb + S There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules: Silent e

Vowel + y

Consonant + y

close = closes note = notes

play = study = plays studies say = says marry = marries

Verbs ending in o

Verbs ending in s, z, sh, tch, ch

go = goes do = does

miss = misses buzz = buzzes hatch = hatches finish = finishes teach = teaches

Examples: 

She drives to work every morning.



He says he plays football on the weekends

Exception: 

The verb to have changes its forms as follows: I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers.

I have = he / she / it has

Things to remember about the simple present:

1.In the interrogative forms, we use "do" or "does". 

"Do you like the house?"



"Does she go to school?"

2; Verbs never take an "s" in the the negative and interrogative forms. 

"Does he speak German?"



"Do they play soccer?"



She doesn't like ice cream.

3. don't is the short form of "do not". You can say either: 

I do not speak Italian, or



I don't speak Italian.

4.doesn't is the short form of "does not". you can say either: 

He does not listen to jazz music, or



He doesn't listen to jazz music.

EXERCISE:

Choose the correct form of the following verbs: wake(s) up - open(s) - speak(s) - take(s) - do(es) - cause(s) - live(s) - play(s) - close(s) live(s) - drink(s)

1. Ann

hand ball very well.

2. I never

coffee.

3. The swimming pool 4. It

at 7:00 in the morning.

at 9:00 in the evening.

5. Bad driving

many accidents.

6. My parents

in a very small flat.

7. The Olympic Games

place every four years.

8. They are good students. They always 9. My students 10. I always

their homework.

a little English. early in the morning.

Put the verbs between brackets in the correct form: 1. Jane (not/drink)

tea very often.

2. What time (the banks/open)

in Britain?

3. Where (John/come) 4. It (take)

from? me an hour to get to work.

5. She (not/wake)

up early on Sundays.

Choose the right verbs to complete the sentences. Sometimes you need the negative: write - turn - eat - tell - rise

1. The earth 2. The sun

around the sun. in the east.

3. Vegetarians

meat.

4. A liar is someone who 5. A novelist

the truth.

novels.

SIMPLE PAST

The simple past tense is used to talk about finished actions that happened at a specific time in the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb.

You form the simple past of a verb by adding -ed onto the end of a regular verb but, irregular verb forms have to be learnt. There are several examples of irregular verbs in our Picture It section.

To be Statements +

To be Statements -

Questions ?

I was.

I wasn't.

Was I?

He was.

He wasn't.

Was he?

She was.

She wasn't.

Was she?

It was.

It wasn't.

Was it?

You were.

You weren't.

Were you?

We were.

We weren't.

Were we?

They were.

They weren't.

Were they?

Regular Verb (to work) Statements +

Regular Verb (to work) Statements -

Questions

I worked.

I didn't work.

Did I work? Yes, I did. No, I didn't.

He worked.

He didn't work.

Did he work?

Yes, he did.

No, he didn't.

She worked.

She didn't work.

Did she work?

Yes, she did.

No, she didn't.

It worked.

It didn't work.

Did it work? Yes, it did. No, it didn't.

You worked.

You didn't work.

Did you work?

Yes you did.

No, you didn't.

We worked.

We didn't work.

Did we work?

Yes we did.

No, we didn't.

They worked.

They didn't work.

Did they work?

Yes they did.

No, they didn't.

EXAMPLOS Actions that happened in the past: We moved here in 1991.

Short answer +

Short answer -

Did you move here in 1991?

When did you move here?

Sophia and I met yesterday.

In the end, Sophia did not show up.

They were very pleased.

They were not pleased at all.

I worked for Microsoft.

Who did you work for?

EXERCISE: Put the verbs into the simple past: 1. Last year I (go) 2. It (be) 3. I (visit) friends of mine .

to England on holiday. fantastic. lots of interesting places. I (be)

4. In the mornings we (walk)

in the streets of London.

5. In the evenings we (go)

to pubs.

6. The weather (be)

strangely fine.

7. It (not / rain)

a lot.

8. But we (see)

some beautiful rainbows.

9. Where (spend / you)

your last holiday?

Write the past forms of the irregular verbs.

Infinitive

Simple Past

with two

1.

meet

2.

drive

3.

speak

4.

put

5.

write

6.

sing

7.

do

8.

sit

9.

stand

10.

run

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Complete the table in simple past.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

He wrote a book.

He did not sing Was she pretty?

Put the sentences into simple past.

1. We move to a new house. → 2. They bring a sandwich. → 3. He doesn't do the homework. → 4. They sell cars. → 5. Does he visit his friends? → Write sentences in simple past.

1. Janet / miss / the bus → 2. she / tidy / her room → 3. Nancy / watch / not / television→ 4. she / read / a book →

SIMPLE FUTURE The simple future tense: This page will present the simple future tense: 

its form



and its use.

The forms of the simple future: The simple future is formed as follows: will / 'll + verb will = 'll The affirmative form of the simple future:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will / ''ll go.

Examples: 

I think I'll buy a new computer.



I will open the door. Someone is ringing the bell.

The interrogative form of the simple future: Will I, you, he, she, it, we, they go?

Examples: 

Will you buy a computer?



Will you go to the party?

The negative form of the simple future: will not I, you, he, she, it, we, they

go. won't

will not = won't Examples: 

I will not stay at home if I finish the homework.



I won't visit Big Ben if I go to London.

The use of the simple future:



We use the simple future for instant decisions.

Example: "I've left the door open; I'll close it."



We use the simple future , when we predict a future situation: Example: "She'll pass the exam. She's hardworking"



We use the simple future with: "I (don't) think...", "I expect...", "I'm sure...", "I wonder...", "probably".

Example: "It will probably rain tonight" , "I wonder what will happen?



We use the simple future in conditional sentences type one. (More on conditional sentences here): Example: "If I have enough time, I'll watch the film."

Put the verbs into the correct form (simple future) James, 18 years old, asked an ugly fortune teller about his future. Here is what she told him: 1. You (be)

very happy.

2. You (get)

a lot of money.

3. You (buy)

a beautiful house.

4. Your friends (envy) 5. You (meet) 6. You (marry)

you. a beautiful girl. her.

7. You and your wife (travel) 8. People (serve) 9. They (not/refuse) 10. But all this (happen / only)

around the world. you. to make you happy. when you are 70 years old.

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are the words that indicate location. Usually, prepositions show this location in the physical world. Check out the three examples below:

The puppy is onthe floor.

The puppy is in the trash can.

The puppy is besidethe phone.

On, in, and beside are all prepositions. They are showing where the puppy is. Prepositions can also show location in time. Read the next three examples: At midnight, Jill craved mashed potatoes with grape jelly.

In the spring, I always vow to plant tomatoes but end up buying them at the supermarket.

During the marathon, Iggy's legs complained with sharp pains shooting up his thighs.

At midnight, in the spring, and during the marathon all show location in time.

Because there are so many possible locations, there are quite a few prepositions. Below is the complete list.

Prepositions

about above according to across after against along along with among apart from around as as for at because of before behind below beneath beside between beyond but* by by means of

concerning despite down during except except for excepting for from in in addition to in back of in case of in front of in place of inside in spite of instead of into like near next of off on

onto on top of out out of outside over past regarding round since through throughout till to toward under underneath unlike until up upon up to with within without

* But is very seldom a preposition. When it is used as a preposition, butmeans the same as except—Everyone ate frog legs but Jamie. Butusually functions as a coordinating conjunction.

EXERCISE: Choose the right preposition of place: 1.

the picture, I can see a family

2. There is a dish full of fruits

a kitchen.

the worktop.

3. The mother is standing

her son and daughter.

4. She is holding a vase

in her hand.

5. The son and the daughter are sitting smiling

the worktop

each other.

6. There are beautiful cupbords

the wall.

7. There is a window

the mother.

8. The woman is looking

her daughter.

Choose the right preposition of time: 1. What are you doing

Saturday?

2. I am going to the countryside

the weekend.

3. I haven't been to the countryside

December.

4. What time are you leaving?

I am leaving

the afternoon. May be

coming back

Sunday evening. I'll catch the hal

train 5. So you'll be there

Sunday. I'll be here

three o'clock pm.I am seven

nine o'clock.

the whole weekend. I'll be missing you!