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5.-7. klasse English grammar Am, is, are
 English grammar
 

Am, is, are

Tekst/illustrasjoner:
Anne Schjelderup/Ariane Schjelderup
Filosofiske spørsmål:
Øyvind Olsholt
Sist oppdatert: 20. januar 2004

Tara uses the words "am", "is" and "are" to tell us about herself and her family. Can you use the verb "to be" correctly by reading about Tara, and doing the exercises?

Tara tells us about herself

Hi, my name is Tara. I'm 11 years old. My eyes are blue and my hair is blond. I am Irish, I am not English. My favourite colour is blue, not pink.

My father's name is Pete and my mother's name is Eireen. My mother is a dentist and my father is a doctor. They are not at home very much. They are always busy.

In my village there are not many children. We are only 11 pupils at my school. My favourite sports are football and swimming. I do not like playing tennis. Tennis is boring.

What is your name? How old are you? What colour are your eyes? What is the colour of your hair? Where are you from? What is your favourite colour?

What is your father's name? What is your mother's name? What do they do for a living? How many pupils are there at your school? What are your favourite sports?

"To be"—present tense—positive forms

Here is a table that gives you all the variants of "to be" in present tense. Notice that the colouring in the table matches the colouring in the text above.

Number Person Pronoun Verb How to write it
Singular 1. I am I am I'm
  2. you are you are you're
  3. he
she
it		 is he is
she is
it is		 he's
she's
it's
Plural 1. we are we are we're
  2. you are you are you're
  3. they are they are they're

"To be"—present tense—negative forms

And here is the table that gives you all the negative variants of "to be" in present tense. Notice that here too the colouring in the table matches the colouring in the text above.

Number Person Pronoun Verb How to write it
Singular 1. I am not I am not I'm not  
  2. you are not you are not you're not  
  3. he
she
it		 is not he is not
she is not
it is not		 he's not
she's not
it's not		 he isn't
she isn't
it isn't
Plural 1. we are not we are not we're not  
  2. you are not you are not you're not  
  3. they are not they are not they're not  

Suggested topics for philosophical discussion

  1. Tara's favourite colour is blue. What is your favourite colour (if you have one)? Why do we have such things as favourite colours? How do we know when a colour is our favourite? Do you have other favourite things? Do you for instance have a favourite:

    – singer/pop band?
    – animal?
    – pair of shoes/pair of trousers/headwear?
    – car?
    – athlete?
    – book?
    – person?

    How did these things become your favourites: by your own choice or by other people's opinions? Do you think that you are somebody's favourite person? Would you like to be somebody's favourite person? Why? Why not?
  2. Tara has busy parents. They work a lot. Do you want to work a lot when you grow up? Is adult life all work and no play? Do you look forward to becoming an adult? Or would you prefer to remain a child for the rest of your life?
  3. There are only 11 pupils in Tara's class. How many pupils are there in your class? In your opinion, what is the ideal number of pupils in a school class? Does it matter how old the children are? Would it be best if there were fewer pupils in the primary schools and more pupils in the secondary schools? Or perhaps vice versa?
  4. What kinds of things do you think are boring? Do you think that school is boring? Why? Can you think of a school that would not be boring? If school were more interesting or exciting, do you think your leisure time would then seem boring instead? Should school be boring because then we will enjoy our leisure time even more?

  
   

[coming up: listen to this page]
When you position the mouse above the words in bold, you will have a pop-up explaining the word!
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Am, is, are
The text with philosophical questions
Fill in the gaps
Create questions 1-2
Create a sentence 1-3
My classmate
Guess who I am
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