Self- study materials for unit I

Verb to be (the Present Simple Tense) Positive and Negative Forms

I	am	from Russia	I’m—l am
He/She/It	is		He’s/She’s/It’s = He/ She/It is
We You They	are		We’re — We are You’re — You are They’re They are

I	am	not	from Russia	I’m not — I am not
He/She/It	is			He/She/It isn’t — He/She/It is not
We You They	are			We aren’t — We are not You aren’t — You are not They aren’t — They are not

NOTE: Look at the negative forms: She isn’t married. You aren’t British.

BUT: I’m not a schoolboy.

Exercise 1. Write the short form (she’s/we aren’t, etc.).

1. He is 4. I am not

2. They are 5. It is

3. She is not 6. You are not

Exercise 2. Write the full form (she is/we are not, etc.).

1. We aren’t 4. They aren’t

2. I’m 5. It isn’t

3. You’re 6. She’s

Exercise 3. Put in am/am not/is/isn’t/are/aren’t.

1. I ____ from Russia.

2. Debbie and Mark ____British. They ____ German.

3. My friend ____ interested in computers.

4. His parents ____ around 40.

5. How old ____ you? I____18.

6. London____ situated on the river Evans. It ____situated on the river Thames.

7. I ____ keen on sports. But I ____rather good at basketball.

8. Her name____ Jane. It ____ Helen.

Exercise 4. Write true sentences, positive or negative. Use am/am not/is/isn’t/are/aren’t.

1. I/keen on Biology.

2. Rome/in Spain.

3. We/Russian.

4. Football/a popular sport in Britain.

5. The “Beatles” and “Deep Purple”/famous British groups.

6. American English/different from British English.

7. My hobbies/art and music.

General Questions

Am	I	a student?	— Yes, I am./No, I am not.
Is	he / she / it	a student?	— Yes, he/she/it is./No, he/she/ it isn’t.
Are	we you they	students?	— Yes, we are. / No, we aren’t. — Yes, you are. / No, you aren’t. — Yes, they are. / No, they aren’t.

Exercise 5. Make general questions with these words. Give short answers.

1. your mother/at work?

2. her children/at home?

3. he/from Italy? ______ ____

4. I/good at English?

5. you/interested in books?

6. I/right?

7. this subject/difficult?

Exercise 6. Give short answers (Yes, I am/No, he isn’t, etc.).

1. Are your parents old?

2. Are all your school friends students now?

3. Is English difficult?

4. Is your home town small?

5. Are you interested in music?

6. Is your friend good at languages?

Alternative questions

Am	I	your friend	or	not?	—Yes, you are / No, you aren’t.
Is	he/ she	Spanish	or	Italian?	— He/She is Italian.
	it	difficult	or	easy?	— It’s difficult.
Are	we	in the city centre	or	on the out - skirts?	— You are on the outskirts.
	you	a student	or	a schoolboy?	— I’m a student.
	they	at home	or	at work?	—They are at work.

Exercise 7. Ask alternative questions with the following words. Give answers.

Example: You/a student/a schoolboy? — Are you a student or a schoolboy? — I’m a student.

1. He/in Moscow/in Kiev?

2. Alan and Henry/students/teachers?

3. Your new friends/sociable/not?

4. His daughter/17/18?

5. Your parents/old/young?

6. Russia/a big/a small country?

7. They/designers/artists?