Grammar

Beginner - Grammar - Unit 1

El verbo

"to be" ("to be or not to be...")

Forma positiva (afirmativa):

I am

Yo soy

Yo estoy

You are

T eres

T ests

He / she / it is l/ella es l/ella est

We are

Nosotros somos Nosotros estamos

You are

Vosotros sois

Vosotros estis

They are Ellos son

Ellos estn

Ej. I am a student. You are a teacher. She is a manager. They are soldiers. We are clerks.
Formacin de interrogantes:
(las preguntas se forman intercambiando la posicin del verbo y del sujeto)

Am I?

Soy?

Are you?

Eres? Ests?

Is he / she / it? Es?

Estoy?

Est?

Are we?

Somos? Estamos?

Are you?

Sois?

Estis?

Are they? Son?

Estn?

Ej. Am I a student? Are you a teacher? Is she a manager? Are they soldiers? Are we clerks?
Formacin del negativo
(la negacin se forma agregando la palabra "not")

I am not

No soy

You are not

No eres No ests

He / she / it is not No es

No estoy

No est

We are not

No somos No estamos

You are not

No sois

No estis

They are not No son

No estn

Ej. I am not a student. You are not a teacher. She is not a manager. They are not soldiers. We are not clerks.

En el lenguaje informal y cotidiano se utilizan abreviaciones.

Abreviaciones:

I am

= I'm

(I'm a boy.)

You are

= You're

(You're from Poland.)

He is

= He's

(He's a policeman.)

She is

= She's

(She's guilty.)

It is

= It's

(It's an egg.)

We are

= We're

(We're from the USA.)

You are

= You're

(You're too fast for me.)

They are = They're (They're from Poland.)

I am not

= I'm not

(I'm not a student.)

You are not

= You aren't

(You aren't from Poland.)

He is not

= He isn't

(He isn't a policeman.)

She is not

= She isn't

(She isn't guilty.)

It is not

= It isn't

(It isn't my car.)

We are not

= We aren't

(We aren't from the USA.)

You are not

= You aren't

(You aren't my parents.)

They are not = They aren't (They aren't black.)

Algunas abreviaciones tienen dos formas:

She isn't o She's not
Ambas formas son correctas y regularmente usadas.

Reglas para el uso del artculo definido "a / an"

Se usa el artculo indefinido "a / an" antes de cualquier sustantivo que cumpla estas condiciones:
1. Cuando hay slo uno
Ej. a boy, a car, a flat (pero en plural: boys, cars, flats)
2. Cuando son contables
Ej. a girl, a year, an apple (pero: water, salt, coffee, tea - porque estos sustantivos son incontables)
3. Aparecen en la forma contable cuando son usados por primera vez y el interlocutor no los conoce.
Cundo se usa "a" y cundo "an"?
Esta es una pregunta importante. Las dos palabras significan lo mismo, pero:
La palabra "a" se utiliza antes de sustantivos que comienzan con una consonante sonora
(Ej. a university, a girl, a dog),
Mientras que "an" se utiliza antes de sustantivos que comienzan con una vocal sonora
(Ej. an elephant, an hour).

Recuerda que las palabras en ingls a menudo se escriben de una forma, pero se pronuncian de otra!