Tenses and

aspects
Present Past Future

Present Simple Past Simple Future Simple

Present Continues Past Continues Future Continues
Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect
Present Perfect Continues Past Perfect Continues Future Perfect Continues
As to be verb

As main verb
As helping verb

The present of Be expresses state of being, existence, condition, relation

Yes/no questions
Do | Does/ wh questions What questions
Habits I
like meat.
I eat a lot.
Routines
States I
love/want
/ know
him.
Gen facts I
live here.
Uni facts

Forms of be
Subject Presen
s Base form t Past Past participle Present Participle
I am
He
was
She be (… is been (… been being (… being
It must be here for 2 insulted by the
You joking.) years.) govt.)
1
We are were
They
C| Grammar Presentation
Present of Be: am, is, are

Affirmative Statements
Subjects Be (am, is, are) Example Statements
I am Ahmad.
I am I am an artist.
I am from Afghanistan.
He He is a pilot.
She She is a chef.
It It is a mouse.
is
Obaid Obaid is a reporter.
Nilab Nilab is a nurse.
Pen The pen is on the table.
You You are a good student.
We We are officers.
are
They They are lawyers.
Muslim and Asif Muslim and Asif are fishermen.
Contractions
He is = He’s You are = You’re
I am = I’m She is = She’s We are = We’re
It is = It’s They are = They’re
Negative Statements
am not is not are not
You are not an athlete.
He is not a police.
I am not a We are not from around here.
She is not a principal.
mechanic. They are not dancers.
It is not a computer.
Contractions
He is not = He’s not OR He You are not = You’re not OR You aren’t
isn’t We are not = We’re not OR We aren’t
I am not = I’m She is not = She’s not OR They are not = They’re not OR They aren’t
not She isn’t
It is not = It’s not OR It
isn’t

D| Grammar Note

1 The present of be has three forms: am, is, are. I am from Afghanistan.
It is new.
They are my roommates.
2 Use the correct form of be + not to make a negative I am not good at English.
statement. It is not clean.
We are not sick.

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 3 Sentences have a subject and a verb. SUBJECT VERB
The subject is a noun or a pronoun. Omid is a tailor.
We are from India.
4 We often use contractions (short forms) in speaking I’m a photographer. They’re
and informal writing. singers.

NOTE: There are two negative contractions for is not Canada isn’t hot. OR It’s not
and are not. We often use isn’t or aren’t after subject hot.
nouns. We often use ‘s not or ‘re not after subject Mark and Jim aren’t cousins.
pronouns. OR They’re not cousins.

Exercise 1: Read the sentences. Write A (Affirmative) or N (Negative).

N 1. She’s not a professor. _____ 4. They aren’t painters.
_____2. He’s a good reporter. _____ 5. I’m not from Tajikistan.
_____3. They’re here on vacation. _____ 6. It’s not a popular place.

Exercise 2:
A| Complete the sentences with She is, He is, It is, We are, or They are.
1. Yousuf is a waiter. He is from Heart.

2. Khalid and Javed are students. _________________ in Kabul on vacation.

3. Jalalabad is a great city. _________________ in Nangarhar.
4. My brother-in-law and I are in school. ________________ classmates.
5. Deewa is a midwife. _____________ a good cook too.

B| In your notebook, rewrite the sentences using contractions. Then say each sentence aloud.

Exercise 3: Look at the conversation on page 12. Check () the true sentences. Then change the
false sentences to the negative. Write contractions.

______ 1. Jim is a security guard. Jim isn’t a security guard.

______ 2. Hannah and Jim are Mark’s friends. ___________________________.

______ 3. Mark is from Canada. ______________________________________.
______ 4. Jim and Hannah are from the US. ___________________________________.
______ 5. Canada is a great place. _________________________________.
______ 6. Jim says, “Americans are bad people”. ________________________________.
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D| Grammar Presentation
Present of Be: yes / no questions

Yes / No Questions Short Answers

Be Subject Complement Affirmative Negative
Am I right? Yes, you are. No, you’re not. OR No, you aren’t.
he single? Yes, he is. No, he’s not. OR No, he isn’t.
she married? Yes, she is. No, she’s not. OR No, she isn’t.
Is
your car new? Yes, it is. No, it’s not. OR No, it isn’t.
it beautiful? Yes, it is. No, it’s not. OR No, it isn’t.
you happy? Yes, I am. No, I’m not.
you students? Yes, we are. No, we’re not. OR No, we aren’t.
Are
we late? Yes, you are. No, you’re not. OR No, you aren’t.
they friends? Yes, they are. No, they’re not. OR No, they aren’t.

E| Grammar Note

1 To make yes /no question with be, use: Statement: He is at a wedding.

Am, Is, Are + subject + complement? Question: Is he at a wedding?

2 We often use contractions in negative short A: Is she married?

answers. B: No, she’s not. OR No, she
isn’t.

A: Are they brothers?

B: No, they’re not. OR No, they
aren’t.

BE CAREFULL! Don’t use contractions in affirmative A: Is he single?

short answers. B: Yes, he is. NOT: Yes, he’s.
3 To make Who and What questions with present of
be, use:
Who or What + am, is, are + subject?

Use who to ask for information about people. Who is that woman?
Use what to ask for information about things and What is this?
names of people. What is your name?
We often use the contractions who’s and what’s in Who’s that woman?
speaking and informal writing. What’s this?
To answer Who and What questions with present of
be, use:
Who’s that man?
Subject + am, is, are + complement.
He is my teacher.

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Exercise 1: Match the questions and answers.

c 1. Is Amanda your sister? a. No, they aren’t. They are teachers.

_____2. Are they students? b. No, he’s not.
_____3. Are you married? c. No, she isn’t. She’s my cousin.
_____4. Is he your father? d. No, I’m not. I am single.
Complete the conversation with Who or What.
A: That’s a great photo. _____________’s that woman on the right?
B: That’s my cousin.
A: Oh, really? ____________’s her name?
B: Amanda.
A: And ______________’s the man on her left?
B: That’s her husband, Carlos.
A: I see. _____________’s his occupation?
B: He’s a police officer.
A: And ______________’s that in the middle? Is that their son?
B: No, that’s their daughter!

With adverbs of frequency:

For questions, the order is auxiliary + subject + adverb of frequency + verb.

Do you always eat here?

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C| Grammar Presentation
The simple present statements

Affirmative Statements Negative Statements

Subject Base form of Verb Subject Do not / Does not Base Form of Verb
I I
You You do not
come
We We don’t
They from China. They come from China.
He He
does not
She comes She
doesn’t
It It

D| Grammar Note

1 Use the simple present tense to talk about facts I live in Afghanistan. (a fact)
or things that happen again and again. He watches TV every night. (a thing
that happens again and again)
2 To make affirmative statements, use: We live in Kabul.
Subject + the base form of the verb + They study English.
complement.

Add –s or –es with the verbs only with the third- It rains a lot here.
person singular (he, she, it). She watches TV every night.

Add –es to verbs that end in ch, sh, o, s, x, z, or He studies engineering.

y. Josh does his homework after class.
3 To make negative statements, use: They don’t live in the city.
Subject + don’t or doesn’t + the base form of He doesn’t speak Pashto.
the verb + complement.

With adverbs of frequency

With w/h questions

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Rules for adding (es) to a verb: we add “s” or “es” to end of a verb in simple
present tense for the 3rd person singular. (He works hard.) (She goes to school every day.)
1. We add (-es) to a verb that is ended in (sh, ch, ss, x, z, consonant + o).
(Wash = washes.) (Catch = catches) (Pass = passes) (Fix = fixes) (Buzz = buzzes)
(Go = goes)
2. If a verb ends in consonant + y, convert the y to i then add (-es).
(Study = studies) (Play = plaies) (Buy = buies)
3. If a verb ends in single “z”, double the “z” and add “-es”. (quiz = quizzes)

Pronunciation rules:
1. The final is pronounced /s/ after the voiceless sounds /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /θ/.
(Drops, taps) (Hits, prints) (Likes, Works) (Cuffs, coughs) (baths)

2. The final is pronounced /z/ after the sounds /b/, /d/, /g/, /m/, /n/, /v/, /l/, /r/,
/ð/ and all vowel sounds.
rabs Reads Sings Swims Listens Lives
feels Fires soothes/breathes plays (vowel)
3. The final is pronounced /iz/ after the sounds /s/, /z/, /∫/, /3/, /t∫/, /d3/.
places surprises washes garages watches gages