Basic English Grammar

Basic English Grammar

Chapter 1 : Using Be and Have

1.      Noun + Is + Naoun : Singular

·         A and an have same meaning. They are both articles. A is used in front of words that begin with cosonants : ,c,d,f,g,h, etc. An is used in front of word that begin with a,I,u,e and o. But An is also sometimes used in front of words that begin with u. The letters a,I,u,e and o are called “ vowels”. All of the other letters in the alphabet are called “consonats”

·         Example :

Mexico is a country

A cat is an animal

2.      Noun + Are + Noun : Plural( two,three and more)

·         Plural nouns end in –s. A and an are used only with singular nouns.

·         Some singular nouns that end in-y have a specia plural from : They omit the –y and add –ies.

·         Two nouns cpnnected by and are followed by are.

·         Example :

Singular : an ant is an insect

Plural : Ants are insects – Canada and China are countries

3.      Prounoun + Be + Noun

·         Prounoun + Be : I am, You are, She is, He is, It is,We are, You are (two person),They are

·         Singular Prounoun : I, You, She, He, It

·         Plural Prounoun : We, You (two person), They

·         Example :

Singular : I am student

Plural : We are strudents

4.      Contactions with Be

·         Pronoun + Be = Contarction

·         Example :

You + are = you’re – You’re a student/ You’re students

She + is = She’s – She’s a student

5.      Negative with Be

·         Not makes a sentence negative.

·         Not can be contracted with is and are :

Contaction : Is + not = isn’t

Contarction : are + not = aren’t

·         Am and not are not contracted

·         Example :

Tom and Anna aren’t teachers/ Tom and Anna are not teachers

I am not a teacher

6.      Be + Adjactive

·         Adjectives often follow a form of be ( am, is, are). Adjactive describe or give information about a noun or pronoun that comes at the beginning of a sentence.

·         Adjective : round, intelligent, hungry, young, happy

·         Example :

A ball is round

She is Young

7.      Be + A location

·         A location may be a prepositional phrase. A preposition + a noun is called a “ prepositional phrase.”

·         Preposition : at, on, in, at, next to, under, behind

·         Example :

Bob was at the library

Bob wa next to Maria

8.      Yes/No Questions with Be

·         Question : Be + Subject : Is + She a student?

·         Statement : Subject + Be : She + is a student

·         In a question, be comes in front of the subject. Punctuation : A question ends with a question mark (?). A statement ends with a period.(.)

·         When people answer question, they usually give only a “ short answer” (but sometimes they give a “long answer” too). Notice in the short answer below : after yes, be is not contacted with a pronoun. After no, two contactions of be are possible with no differences in meaning. Example : Is she a student ? Yes she is.

9.      Using Have and Has

·         Have : I , You, we, they

·         Has : He, she. It

·         Example :

We have grammar books.

She has a wallet in his pocket.