English Basics

I. Present form of the verbto be.

Contents: Instructor:
II. Demonstratives. Jos E. Paredes.
III. Plural Nouns.
IV. Possessive adjectives.
V. Prepositions of place: in/on/at
VI. Present Continuous.
VII. The verb can.
I. Present form of the verb to be.

The verb to 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 Verb Form Example

I AM I am a teacher.

You ARE You are a student.

He IS He is in the lab.

She IS She is my sister.

It IS It is a city.

We ARE We are friends.

They ARE They are doctors.

 NEGATIVE SENTENCES

You can make negative sentences similar to the sentences

before. The only difference is that we 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
(w/contractions)

I am not I`m not

He Hes not = He isnt

She is not Shes not = She isnt
It Its not = It isnt
We Were not = We arent
You are not Youre not = You arent
They Theyre not = They arent
 YES / NO QUESTIONS

In English, we can form two kinds of questions:

Yes/No questions and Wh-questions.
Yes/No Questions are the ones we have to answer
with either yes or no.
Remember that when you answer Yes/No questions
you have to pay attention to the subject.

Example: Are you here to learn?

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

Wh-questions look for specific information.

In this kind of questions you never answer with yes
or no.

Example: What is your name?

 WH - QUESTIONS
Wh-word Information Example
about
What Things What is this? It is a book.
Name What is your name? Robert.
Occupations What do you do? I am a driver.
Activities What is he doing? Hes working
Who People Who is the director of the school?
Carlos Samaniego.
Where Places Where is he? In the house.
How State How are you? I am sad.
Form / manner How is it going? Not good.
 To be summary
Statement Negative Statements Yes/No Question Short Answers

Yes, you are / No, you are

I am a teacher. I am not a teacher. Am I a teacher?
not.

You are a student. You are not a student. Are you a student? Yes, I am / No, I am not.

He is in the lab. He is not in the lab. Is he in the lab? Yes, he is / No, he is not.
Yes, she is /
She is my sister. She is not my sister. Is she my sister?
No, she is not.
Yes, it is /
It is a city. It is not a city. Is it a city?
No, it is not.
Yes, we are /
We are friends. We are not friends. Are we friends?
No, we are not.
Yes, they are /
They are doctors. They are not doctors. Are they doctors?
No they are not.
 II. DEMONSTRATIVES

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

This is a blackboard These are papers

THIS + Singular Nouns THESE + Plural Nouns

 DEMONSTRATIVES

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

That is a lake. THAT + Singular Nouns

Those are mountains 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.
 III. PLURAL NOUNS

Noun ends in: Do the following: Examples

-s, -x, -ch or -sh. Add -es boss - bosses

tax - taxes
bush - bushes
Consonant + y Change y to i then add fly - flies
-es try - tries
curry curries
Most verbs Add -s cat - cats
face - faces
day days
Noun ends in: Do the following: Examples
-fe Change f to v knife - knives
then life - lives
wife - wives
Add -s
f Change f to v half - halves
then wolf - wolves
loaf - loaves
Add es
-o Add es potato - potatoes
tomato tomatoes
volcano - volcanoes
 IRREGULAR PLURAL NOUNS

Irregular nouns: Examples

They change completely, they dont man - men
follow a specific set of rules. foot - feet
child - children
person - people
tooth - teeth
mouse - mice
Nouns do not change at all. The sheep
singular and plural forms are the deer
same.
 IV. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Personal Possessive
Pronouns adjectives
I My
You Your
He His
She Her +
It Its
We Our
They Their NOUN
 POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Her pants are blue His shirt is new

This is our house This is her cat

 POSSESSIVE FORM: S

Kevins wife is Rose.

Charlies book is black.
His wife is Rose.

The childs mother is happy

 V. PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE

IN (enclosed) In the house in a shop

In a room in a town
In a car in a garden
ON (Surface) On a shelf on a wall
On a plate on the table
On a balcony on a door
AT (specific point) At the bus station at home
At the door at the top
At work at the end of
 VI. PRESENT CONTINUOUS

The present continuous Subject To be Present

tense is mostly used for participle
activities happening at the
moment of speaking. I Am Singing
However, it has other He
uses. We need the verb
to be and the present She Is Singing
participle to form it. It
We
You Are Singing
They
Affirmative, Negative and Question
Forms

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE YES/NO QUESTIONS

I am dancing I am not dancing Am I dancing?
You are eating You are not eating Are you eating?

He is sleeping He is not sleeping Is he sleeping?

She is reading She is not reading Is she reading?

It is running It is not running Is it running?

We are walking We are not walking Are we walking?

They are studying They are not studying Are they studying?
 RULES

How to make the -ING

Verb ending in... Examples:
form

C+V+C Double the consonant, swim - swimming

1 syllable then add ING hit - hitting
get getting
-e Remove E, then add come - coming
ING lose - losing
live living
[anything else] Add ING say - saying
go - going
walk - walking
 VII. CAN / CANT

Can is mostly used to express ability.

He cant play the piano. He can play football.

They can dance.

He can swim. He can skate.

 Affirmative, Negative and Question
Forms
YES/NO
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE SHORT ANSWERS
QUESTIONS
Yes, you can /
I can cook I can not cook Can I cook?
No, you cant.
Yes I can /
You can dance You can not dance Can you dance?
No I cant.
Yes, he can /
He can play He can not play Can he play?
No, he cant.
Yes, she can
She can swim She can not swim Can she swim?
No, she cant.
Yes, it can /
It can run It can not run Can it run?
No, it cant.
Yes, we can /
We can sing We can not sing Can we sing?
No, we cant.
Yes, they can /
They can walk They can not walk Can they walk ?
No, they cant.