UNIVERSIDAD MAYOR

PROFESORA: MARA ANTONIETA ROSSI

I.- To be - Positive Sentences & Contractions

TO BE : AM, IS ARE
Full Forms of the verb to be
I

am

a student.

He

is

a teacher.

She

is

a journalist.

It

is

a book.

We

are

mechanics.

You

are

pilots.

They

are

policemen.

Contracted forms of the verb to be

I

a student.

He

a teacher.

She

a journalist.

It

a book.

We

re

mechanics.

You

re

pilots.

They

re

policemen.

EXERCISES
A.- Chose the correct form of the verb to be:
1. It cold today.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

I .. at home now.
They ..... Korean.
My name .. Nikita.
We from Ukraine.
That . right.
I . OK, thanks.
Clara and Steve married.
She.. an English teacher.

B.- Put the words in the correct order to make positive sentences with the verb to be.
1 am twenty-five old. years I

2 are We from Venezuela.

3 Anton student. name and My a I'm is

4 book. This is my

5 a nice today. day It's

6 is name brother's Her Paul.

7 is an engineer. John

8 husband's Johansson. My is name

II.- Verb to be with question words:

Now will talk about question words and how we can use them with the verb to be in the present
tense.

Ahora vamos a hablar de los questions words y de cmo podemos usarlas correctamente
con el verbo to be.
Question words are those words that may go in the beginning of a question. When we use
question words we do not use a yes or no answer.
Las questions words son las palabras especficas que se deben colocar al inicio de la frase
interrogativa en ingls. Cuando stas se utilizan no se responde con las respuestas cortas si o
no (Yes, I am por ejemplo). Se responde con una oracin completa ( S+V+C).
Ejemplo :
Whats your name?

Im David Taylor. (The answer is a sentence)

With no question word:

Are you Maria?

No, Im not (The answer is a yes/no because there isnt a question word)

Table # 1 Question words (verb to be practice)

English

Spanish

Where

Dnde

Why

Por qu

Who

Quien

What / (time)

Qu / Cul (a qu
hora)

Which

Qu / Cul

How long

Por cunto tiempo

How often

Con qu frecuencia

Whose

De quin

How many/much

Cuntos

How old

Qu Edad

How

Cmo

Table # 2 (Question structure of the verb to be in the present simple with QWs)

Question Word

Verb (to be)

Subject

Complement

What

is

(your) name?

[no complement]

How old

are

you?

[no complement]

Where

is

Juan

from?

Who

is

(the) present

for?

Remember:
In questions with the verb to be, only the question words can go in the beginning. Nothing may
go in front of the question words in full questions.
De dnde eres? -> Lo lgico sera : From where are you

(INCORRECTO)

Recuerden que si algo va en su idioma antes del QW entonces lo mandamos al final en el

complemento.
Correcto: Where are you from? (QW goes first)
Typical questions with the above properties:
What is this for? (Para qu es esto?)
Who are the books for ? (Para quin son los libros?)
What is the movie about? (De qu se trata la pelcula?)
Preguntas importantes con sus respuestas para aprender:
Where are you from? - Im from Australia
Whats (what + is) your address? - Its 876 Snow Road.
Whats your nationality? - Im Peruvian.
Whose pencil is this? - It is my pencil (Whose = de quien y va antes del sustantivo)
How old is Marcus? - Hes twenty years old.
Why are you sad? - Because I am sick.
How are you? - Im fine, thank you.
Ejercicios Gracias a Basic Grammar in use: