Verb to be in the Present Simple Tense

– Hello, boys and girls! My name is Bobby.

– And my name is Tobby. This is our friend Mobby.

– Welcome to our lesson.

– Today we have a guest.

– It’s a mouse.

– His name is Milo.

– Hi, everyone!

– Milo, you look so sad! Is something wrong?

– Oh, boys…

– Milo, please, don’t cry!

– Tell us what happened.

– I’m sure that we’ll be able to help you with your problem.

– Oh, but I’m not sure!

– Come on! Tell us everything!

– All right, boys! Listen to my story and you’ll understand everything!

It was Friday. On this day I usually have five lessons and one of them is English. I really like this subject, but our English teacher is very strict.

So when it was 8 o’clock, the bell rang, and I went to the class. In two minutes our teacher came in and started talking to us.

– Hello, pupils! I’m glad to see you!

– Hello, Mrs. Grey. We are glad to see you too.

– Boys and girls, today we are going to learn new rule.

– Oh, cool! And what is this rule about?

– Lorry, next time raise your hand if you want to ask a question!

– Oh, okay! I’m sorry, Mrs. Grey.

– Fine! This time I’ll answer your question, but next time I won’t.

The rule is about the verb “to be” in the Present Simple Tense.

Today we will learn it and on Monday you will write the final test.

If you get a bad mark, you will have to attend the school during the whole summer.

– What?

– Oh, no!

– No, please!

– Pupils, be quiet! All you have to do is listen to me very attentively.

After that Mrs. Grey started explaining the rule to us.

– Milo, did you listen to your teacher very attentively?

– Yes, I did! But then I started thinking about my summer holidays, which I would probably spend at school.

– Oh, I see! And as a result, you didn’t hear the rule. Am I right?

– Yes, you are absolutely right! Boys, what should I do now?

– First of all, you need to calm down!

– I can’t! I don’t want to spend the whole summer at school!

– Milo, don’t worry! You won’t spend the whole summer there.

– We will explain this rule to you!

– Yeah! And on Monday you’ll write the test and get a good mark!

– Trust us, please! The rule is very easy!

– Okay.

– Great! Let’s start!

Now I think you understand that today in the lesson we will:

·      talk about the verb “to be” in the Present Simple Tense;

·      learn how to form sentences with this verb;

And

·      put the knowledge into practice.

First, let’s talk about the verb “to be”.

It’s translated as “есть, являться, быть, находиться”.

The verb “to be” has three forms in the Present Simple Tense:

Am

Is

And

Are.

We use “am” with the pronoun: I.

For example:

I am

We use “is” with the pronouns: he, she, it.

For example:

He is

She is

It is

And we use “are” with the pronouns: we, you, they.

For example:

We are

You are

They are

Now let’s discuss how we can form the sentences with “am”, “is” and “are”.

To form positive sentences, we put the subject in the first place. After that we need to use the words “am”, “is” or “are”.

Let’s look at the examples:

I am very angry.

Wendy’s cat is black.

Or

The hippos are hungry.

To form negative sentences, we need to put the subject in the first place. Then we need to use the words “am”, “is” or “are”. And after that we put the particle “not”. The short form of “am not” is “‘m not”, the short form of “is not” is “isn’t” and the short form of “are not” is “aren’t”.

Look at the examples:

I am not very angry (or I’m not very angry).

Wendy’s cat is not black (or Wendy’s cat isn’t black).

And

The hippos are not hungry (or The hippos aren’t hungry).

To form questions, we need to put the words “am”, “is” or “are” in the first place. And after that we put the subject.

Let’s look at the examples:

Am I very angry?

Is Wendy’s cat black?

Or

Are the hippos hungry?

To give short answers to the questions, we can use one of the following two constructions:

The first construction:

In the first place we put the word “yes”. After that we use the personal pronoun.

And then we need to put the words “am”, “is” or “are”.

And the second construction:

In the first place we put the word “no”. After that we use the personal pronoun.

And then we need to put the words “am”, “is” or “are” with the particle “not”.

– Milo, we’ve told you everything about the verb “to be” in the Present Simple Tense.

– Did you understand the information?

– Yes, I did!

– Great! We are happy to hear that!

– But now we would like to check your knowledge!

– Oh, sure!

Your 1^st task is to complete the sentences with am, is, are, am not, is not or are not.

And the sentences are:

1.    The bear … brown.

2.    The pupils … in the kitchen.

3.    I … a taxi driver.

4.    The elephant … angry.

5.    I … in the bed.

And

6.    Susie and Emma … good friends.

Let’s check the right answers.

1.    Is

2.    Are not

3.    Am not

4.    Is not

5.    Am

6.    Are

Now do the 2^nd task. Here you need to complete the questions using am, is or are.

And the questions are:

1.    … she a good cook?

2.    … I happy now?

3.    … the parrots in the cage?

4.    … I at school now?

5.    … the weather nice today?

6.    … they mice?

Check yourselves.

1.    Is

2.    Am

3.    Are

4.    Am

5.    Is

6.    Are

Wonderful! And now choose the right answers to the questions.

Let’s check.

The right answer to the first question is:

No, she isn’t.

The right answer to the second question is:

Yes, I am.

The right answer to the third question is:

No, they aren’t.

The right answer to the fourth question is:

No, I’m not.

The right answer to the fifth question is:

Yes, it is.

And

The right answer to the last question is:

Yes, they are.

– Well done, Milo!

– Now you know everything about the verb “to be” in the Present Simple Tense.

– Yes, that’s right! Thank you for your help, boys!

– You’re welcome!

– That’s all for today, our dear friends!

– See you soon.