Hello, guys! Welcome to our class!
So far, you've seen the main features of each type of accommodation
and learned some tips on how to choose the perfect place to stay when you travel.
Now, let's explore some elements of the language!
One of the tips we talked about was thinking about the purpose of you trip
before choosing accommodation.
Do you remember the question we asked
when we want to know this type of information?
Take a look!
Today, I want to draw your attention to the verb here: "is".
This is one of the conjugations of the verb "to be" in the presente.
And we can use the verb "to be" to refer to a permanent or temporary state.
And you know why it is so important?
Because the verb "to be" is very frequent in the English language
and it has several functions.
Besides that, both the conjugation
and the sentence structure of the verb "to be" are unique
if compared to other verbs in the English language.
Let's start by talking about some uses of the verb "to be".
We can use this verb to talk about characteristics, for example:
Here, "popular" is a characteristic of "hostels".
Let's see another use of the verb "to be".
It is also used when we talk about occupations.
For example:
We use "to be" to talk about Locations too.
For example:
And an important detail: we use "to be" to talk about age.
For example:
And how does the verb "to be" conjugation work in the present?
It's simple! There are three variations: "Am", "is" and "are".
What determines the one you will use is the subject of the sentence.
Then we can use the basic structure of the sentence with "to be", as follows:
This is the basic structure of the affirmative form.
When the subject is "I", we use "am".
Thus, we have "I am". The contracted form here is "I'm".
For example:
When the subject is "you", we use "are".
Then we have "you are" or "you're", as in:
When the subject is "he", "she" or "it",
that is, the third person singular, we use "is".
So we have: "he is" or "he's"; "she is" or "she's";
and "it is" or "it's".
For example:
And when the subject is plural, we use "are".
So, there are: "we are" or "we're";
"you are" or "you're"; and "they are" or "they're". For example:
Notice that this "you" here is plural.
In the negative form, just add "not" right after the verb "to be"!
So, the structure is like this:
For example:
So, we use "I am" and add "not" to the sentence.
With "it", we use "is" and then add "not".
With "they", we have "they are not".
In the negative form,
we can also use the contracted form of the verb + "not".
For example:
Contractions are common in spoken language,
in fact, if you don't use them when you speak,
it'll probably sound like you're emphasizing the negative form of the sentence.
Depending on the situation, it may sound a little aggressive or even rude.
So, you'd better get used to the contracted forms.
Let's see some examples!
Note that I used "isn't", the contraction of "is" and "not".
Another example!
Here, I used "aren't", the contraction of "are" and "not".
How about the interrogative form?
Easy!
Just switch the position of the subject and the verb "to be" in the sentence.
The complement remains in the same position.
So, the general structure of the interrogative form is:
Oh, and you write it down, remember to add a question mark, ok?
I'll show you some examples with the verb "to be" to make it clearer:
Note that we start the question with the verb "to be",
in this case "is", and then add the subject, "it".
So: "is it a family trip?".
Here, we changed the position of "you" and "are" in the sentence,
starting the question with the verb "to be".
So: "are you...?".
Well, so far we've seen some moments in which the verb "to be" is used
and we've learned the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms
of this verb in the simple present.
Now we're going to take a look at another situation
where we use the verb "to be".
Check it out!
This sentence does not refer to a characteristic,
occupation, location or age.
So, I ask you: what is the main action in this sentence?
If you answered "travel", you got it right!
In this case, it's an action in progress:
"traveling", and the verb "to be" is used as an auxiliary verb.
This verb form is called the present continuous,
which indicates an action in progress in the presente,
that is, an action that is happening right now.
In this structure, the verb "to be" works as an auxiliary verb.
That is, here, the main verb,
the one that indicates the action in progress,
is in the "ing" form.
So, the affirmative structure of the present continuous is the following:
This "ing" suffix that we add to the main verb
expresses the idea of continuity.
Let's see an example!
The verb "study" has the "ing" suffix,
which expresses the idea of an action in progress.
The negative form is similar to the verb "to be" structure:
we just add "not" to the sentence right after the verb "to be"
and then we use the verb in the "ing" form.
Look!
"Aren't" is the negative form of the verb "to be",
and the rest of the sentence remains the same.
"Studying" + complement.
The interrogative form follows the same structure
of the verb "to be" structure.
That is, we invert the position of the verb "to be"
with the position of the subject.
So we have:
Here we have "are", the verb "to be" starting with the question,
then there is the subject "you", and the rest of the sentence:
the main verb with "ing", "traveling", and the complement.
So, to sum up,
when we have the verb "to be" as the main verb,
we are usually talking about opinions, states or characteristics
that may be temporary or permanent.
And when we use the present continuous, the verb "to be" is just an auxiliary verb
and the main verb is the one that carries meaning,
and it will always come with a suffix, "ing", to describe an action in progress,
something that is being done at the moment of speaking.
That's it!
Now do the follow-up activities to review this content!
I'll see you guys next time, bye!