Active Grammar 1 - Nigel Turton 2007

Unit 5 Verbs

● What is a verb?

● The verb be

● There is and there are

● The verb have

● Present continuous tense

● What is a verb?

(write, make, feel)

Do you remember this notice about the three kittens?

Home Wanted

Three kittens need a good home.

Only six weeks old.

Purrrrfect pets.

Please ring: 68473870

They crawl under the carpet. They climb up the curtains.

They run around the garden.  They sit and watch the fish.

What do the kittens do?

They play most of the time.

They crawl under the carpet.

They climb up the curtains.

They run around the garden.

They sit and watch the fish.

They chase birds and butterflies.

They sleep in their basket.

All the highlighted words are called verbs. Some people call verbs doing words.

What do you do at school?

What do you do at home?

You use verbs to talk about what things people do.

You can use verbs for other things too.

● You use о verb to say who you are.

● You use a verb to say what you need.

● You use a verb to say what you like.

● You use a verb to say how you feel.

PRACTICE

1 Put the words in the right order. Make sentences like this:

a mice cats chase

Cats chase mice.

b chase dogs cats

c make bees honey

d milk drink babies

e bananas like monkeys

f eat worms birds

g bread bakers make

h I a doctor am

2 One word in each of the sentences above is a verb. Which word is it?

a ... b ... c ... d ...

e ... f ... g ... h ...

3 One word in each group below is NOT a verb. Circle it.

a read write classroom listen draw paint

b run walk crawl climb sit playground

● The verb be

(I am, you are, he is)

Sally is showing her friend Lucy some photographs.

The words am, are and is are parts of the verb be.

SINGULAR

I am (I'm)

you are (you're)

she is (she's)

he is (he's)

it is (it's)

PLURAL

we are (we're)

you are (you're)

they are (they're)

Grammar Help

When you speak, you usually use short forms like I’m, you’re and she’s.

You can use am, are and is with not.

Did you know?

you aren’t = you are not

he isn’t = he is not

Sometimes there is more than one short form:

you aren’t = you’re not

he isn’t = he’s not

These are the singular forms.

FULL FORM

I am not

you are not

she is not

he is not

it is not

SHORT FORMS

    I'm not

you aren't you're not

she isn't  she's not

he isn't  he's not

it isn't  it’s not

These are the plural forms.

FULL FORM

we are not

you are not

they are not

SHORT FORMS

we aren't    we're not

you aren't   you're not

they aren't    they're not

PRACTICE

Fill in the blanks with parts of the verb be.

Sometimes you have to use not as well.

1 Kim: It ... your birthday today, isn't it?

Mat: Yes, it ... . I ... six.

Kim: Happy birthday, Mat!

2 Jill: ... you hungry?

Tim: No, I ... . ... you hungry?

Jill: Yes, I ...

3 Luke: Look at this, Mark. It ... a butterfly, isn't it?

Mark: Yes, it ... . It ... beautiful.

Luke: The wings ... so big!

Mark: Yes, they ... huge!

4 Lucy: Your mother ... a teacher, isn't she?

Paul: Yes, she ... . My father ... a teacher, too.

5 Mary: Tom ... in your class, isn't he?

Dan: No, he ... . He ... in 1B.

Mary: Which class ... you in?

Dan: I ... in 1C.

Mary: Jill and Wendy ... in 1B, aren't they?

Dan: Yes, they ... . They ... good friends of mine.

● There is and there are

Do you know this game?

You use there is when you talk about one person or thing.

You also use there is with uncountable nouns like milk and money.

There’s some milk in the fridge.

There’s some money in the drawer.

To ask a question, you say Is there ...?

is there a pear?

You also use is there after how much.

How much milk is there?

You use there are when you talk about more than one person or thing.

There are three pencils and there are two books.

To ask a question, you say Are there ...?

Are there any sweets in the jar?

You also use are there after how many.

How many children are there in your class?

PRACTICE

Now you con ploy the Memory Wizard game.

1 Play the game with a friend.

2 Look at all the things in Picture A for one minute.

3 Try to remember them all.

4 Close your book. Don't open it until the end of the game.

5 Tell your friend all the things in Picture A. Make sentences with there is and there are.

6 Play the game again using Picture B. This time let your friend be the Memory Wizard.

● The verb have

(I have, she has)

When you talk about things that belong to you or other people, you often use the verb have.

You use has when you talk about just one person or thing.

This table tells you when to use have and when to use has.

SINGULAR

I have

you have

she has

he has

it has

PLURAL

we have

you have

they have

You can use the verb have or has when you describe someone or something.

A lot of people use have got instead of have.

I’ve got a magic lamp.

They've got a visitor called Goldilocks.

He's got a hook instead of a hand.

This little boy has got a problem.

Grammar Help

These are all the full forms and short forms.

SINGULAR

I have got = I’ve got

you have got = you’ve got

she has got = she’s got

he has got = he’s got

it has got = it’s got

PLURAL

we have got = we’ve got

you have got = you’ve got

they have got = they’ve got

PRACTICE

Complete the sentences with the correct form of have or have got.

● Present continuous tense

(I am playing, he is playing)

It is Sally's birthday today and she is having a party. Her mother is talking to someone on the telephone.

Sometimes you want to talk about something that is happening now.

I’m opening my presents.

Jill and Mat are playing with a balloon.

Lisa is singing a song.

To talk about what you are doing now, you use two verbs.

This is called the present continuous tense.

Emily is walking towards her air balloon.

Now she's getting into the balloon.

Now the balloon is rising slowly into the air.

Grammar Help

Look at the pattern.

walk + ing = walking

open + ing = opening

play + ing = playing

sing + ing = singing

Usually, you just add -ing to the verb.

With some verbs you have to double the last letter before adding -ing.

get + t + ing = getting

stop + p + ing = stopping

run + n + ing = running

put + t + ing = putting

You do this with very short verbs.

If the verb ends with -e, you usually drop this letter before adding -ing.

rise - e = rising

take — e = taking

come - e = coming

drive — e = driving

Did you know?

The present continuous tense is also called the present progressive.

PRACTICE

What is happening in the park? Fill each blank with the correct present continuous tense.