Present Continuous

The present continuous is used to talk about present situations which we see as short-term or temporary. We use the present simple to talk about present situations which we see as long-term or permanent.

In these examples, the action is taking place at the time of speaking.

• It's raining.
• Who is Kate talking to on the phone?
• Look, somebody is trying to steal that man's wallet.
• I'm not looking. My eyes are closed tightly.

In these examples, the action is true at the present time but we don't think it will be true in the long term.

• I'm looking for a new apartment.
• He's thinking about leaving his job.
• They're considering making an appeal against the judgment.
• Are you getting enough sleep?

In these examples, the action is at a definite point in the future and it has already been arranged.

• I'm meeting her at 6.30.
• They aren't arriving until Tuesday.
• We are having a special dinner at a top restaurant for all the senior managers.
• Isn't he coming to the dinner?

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The Imperative

We can use the imperative to give a direct order.

1. Take that chewing gum out of your mouth.
2. Stand up straight.
3. Give me the details.

We can use the imperative to give instructions.

1. Open your book.
2. Take two tablets every evening.
3. Take a left and then a right.

We can use the imperative to make an invitation.

1. Come in and sit down. Make yourself at home.
2. Please start without me. I'll be there shortly.
3. Have a piece of this cake. It's delicious.

We can use the imperative on signs and notices.

1. Push.
2. Do not use.
3. Insert one dollar.

We can use the imperative to give friendly informal advice.

1. Speak to him. Tell him how you feel.
2. Have a quiet word with her about it.
3. Don't go. Stay at home and rest up. Get some sleep and recover.

We can make the imperative 'more polite' by adding 'do'.

• Do be quiet.
• Do come.
• Do sit down.

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Verb to be Past (Was - Were)

The past tense of To Be in English has two forms: WAS and WERE

To Be - Affirmative

Subject	To Be	Examples
I	was	I was tired this morning.
You	were	You were very good.
He	was	He was the best in his class.
She	was	She was late for work.
It	was	It was a sunny day.
We	were	We were at home.
You	were	You were on holiday.
They	were	They were happy with their test results.

To Be - Negative Sentences

The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were).

Subject	To Be	Examples
I	was not	I was not tired this morning.
You	were not	You were not crazy.
He	was not	He was not married.
She	was not	She was not famous.
It	was not	It was not hot yesterday.
We	were not	We were not invited.
You	were not	You were not at the party.
They	were not	They were not friends.

To Be - Negative Contractions

The can make negative contractions of the verb To Be in the Past tense by joining the verb (was or were) and n't(e.g. were not = weren't). We don't make a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I was).

I was not tired this morning.	OR	I wasn't tired this morning.
You were not crazy.	OR	You weren't crazy.
He was not married.	OR	He wasn't married.
She was not famous.	OR	She wasn't famous.
It was not hot yesterday.	OR	It wasn't hot yesterday.
We were not invited.	OR	We weren't invited.
You were not at the party.	OR	You weren't at the party.
They were not friends.	OR	They weren't friends.

To Be - Questions

To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative	You	were	happy.
	Subject	Verb
Question	Were	you	happy?
	Verb	Subject

Affirmative	Question
I was late	Was I late?
You were sick.	Were you sick?
He was surprised.	Was he surprised?
She was from Italy.	Was she from Italy?
It was a big house.	Was it a big house?
We were ready.	Were we ready?
You were early.	Were you early?
They were busy.	Were they busy?

Before the verb you can also have a WH- Question word (Why, Who, What, Where etc.)

Were you happy? Yes, I was.

Why were you happy? Because I was promoted at work.

To Be - Short Answers

In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.

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

Question	Short Answers**	Short Answers
Was I late?	Yes, you were.	No, you weren't.
Were you sick?	Yes, I was.	No, I wasn't.
Was he surprised?	Yes, he was.	No, he wasn't.
Was she from Italy?	Yes, she was.	No, she wasn't.
Was it a big house?	Yes, it was.	No, it wasn't.
Were we ready?	Yes, we were.	No, we weren't.
Were you early?	Yes, we were.	No, we weren't.
Were they busy?	Yes, they were.	No, they weren't.

** With To Be, We don't use contractions in affirmative short answers.

TO BE in the Past Tense - Summary Chart

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Indefinite Articles - A, An

The two indefinite articles are "a" and "an". Indefinite articles are invariable. You use one or the other, depending on the first letter of the word following the article, for pronunciation reasons. Use a when the next word starts with a consonant, or before words starting in u andeu when they sound like you. Use an when the next word starts with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) or with a mute h.

EXAMPLES

• a boy
• an apple
• a car
• a helicopter
• an elephant
• a big elephant
• an itchy sweater
• an ugly duck
• a european
• a university
• a unit
• an hour
• an honor

The indefinite article is used to refer to something for the first time or to refer to a particular member of a group or class. Some use cases and examples are given below.

Use a to refer to something for the first time.

EXAMPLES

• Would you like a drink?
• I've finally got a good job.
• An elephant and a mouse fell in love.

NAMING MEMBERS OF A GROUP

Use a with names of jobs.

EXAMPLES

• John is a doctor.
• Mary is training to be an engineer.
• He wants to be a dancer.

Use a with nationalities and religions in the singular.

EXAMPLES

• John is an Englishman.
• Kate is a Catholic.

Use a with the names of days of the week when not referring to any particular day.

EXAMPLES

• I was born on a Thursday.
• Could I come over on a Saturday sometime?

Use a to refer to an example of something.

EXAMPLES

• The mouse had a tiny nose .
• The elephant had a long trunk .
• It was a very strange car .

Use a with singular nouns after the words 'what' and 'such'.

EXAMPLES

• What a shame !
• She's such a beautiful girl .
• What a lovely day !

Use a meaning 'one', referring to a single object or person, or a single unit of measure. In these sentences using "one" instead of the indefinite article is grammatically correct. It will add emphasis to the number, and contrast with other numbers.

EXAMPLES

• I'd like an orange and two lemons please.
• I'd like one orange and two lemons please.
• The burglar took a diamond necklace and some valuable paintings.
• I can think of a hundred reasons not to come.
• I need a kilogram of sugar.
• I need one kilogram of sugar.
• You can't run a mile in 5 minutes!

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Plural Nouns

Most of time the plural of a noun is formed by adding -S to the noun.

Singular	Plural
car	cars
house	houses
book	books
bird	birds
pencil	pencils

However:

1. When the noun ends in SS, SH, CH or X, we add -ES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
kiss	kisses
wish	wishes
match	matches
box	boxes
fox	foxes

• I have a box in my bedroom.
• I have three boxes in my bedroom.

2. When the noun ends in a VOWEL + Y, we add -S to the noun.

Singular	Plural
boy	boys
holiday	holidays
key	keys
guy	guys

3. When the noun ends in a CONSONANT + Y, we remove Y and add -IES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
party	parties
lady	ladies
story	stories
nanny	nannies
city	cities

4. If the noun ends in F or FE, we remove the F/FE and add -VES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
life	lives
leaf	leaves
thief	thieves
wife	wives

5. If the noun ends in IS, we change it to ES.

Singular	Plural
analysis	analyses
basis	bases
crisis	crises

6. There are a number of nouns that don't follow these rules. They are irregular and you need to learn them individually because they don't normally have an S on the end.

Singular	Plural
man	men
woman	women
child	children
foot	feet
tooth	teeth
goose	geese
mouse	mice

• There is a child in the park.
• There are many children in the park.

7. There are some nouns in English that are the same in the singular and the plural.

Singular	Plural
fish	fish
sheep	sheep
deer	deer
moose	moose
aircraft	aircraft

• I can see a sheep in the field.
• I can see ten sheep in the field.

Sometimes you will hear the word fishes (especially in songs) though it is grammatically incorrect.

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Possessive Adjectives

We use possessive adjectives to show who owns or "possesses" something. The possessive adjectives are:

• my, your, his, her, its, our, their
• whose (interrogative)

Warning! These are adjectives. Don't confuse them with pronouns.

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Object Pronouns

The seven basic pronouns have one form when they are used as subjects and another form when they are used as objects.

Subjects are what the sentence is about.
Objects are what is affected by the action of the subject.

• I like whisky. (I is the subject).
• I read books. (Books is the object as it is receiving the action).

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Can - Can't

Can is a modal verb.

Can is used to express ability or to say that something is possible.

Can is the same for all subjects. We don't add an 'S' in the third person (like other verbs)

The verb that comes after Can is in the infinitive without to:

• I can speak Spanish. (= it is possible for me to speak Spanish = I have the ability to speak Spanish)

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Subject Pronouns

The subject of a sentence is a person or thing that performs the action of the verb.

Subject pronouns are used to replace the subject (person or thing) of a verb.

We do NOT normally say:

• John is tall and John is intelligent.

Saying the word "John" twice is repetitive and does not sound natural.

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Verb to be Present (Am - Is - Are)

The Simple present of the verb to be

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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

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