Verb to be. Rule for using am, is, are for children

We very often use possessive pronouns in both Russian and English. Do you think it’s enough to learn my, his, her, their? No, their use sometimes puts those who do not know all the secrets in an awkward position.

Ask yourself: what is a pronoun? Yes, a part of speech that replaces a noun or adjective. And here special group Possessive Pronouns, one might say, characterizes an object, phenomenon, property, indicating that it belongs to someone and answers the question whose? whose? whose? (whose?).

This is my note-book - This is my notebook.

Their decision was unexpected. “Their decision was unexpected.

Our car is broken. — Our car is broken.

What are the possessive pronouns in English?

This group takes its roots from personal pronouns in terms of education, and it is by comparing them that we will consider the use of these parts of speech. To make it easier to understand and remember, let's divide all Possessive Pronouns into two groups.

• Possessives pronouns-adjectives. This name indicates that the listed parts of speech are before a noun, which it describes, characterizes it. In this case never no articles are used. However, after these possessive pronouns in English, there can be other definitions (adjectives), which come after them. I would also like to note that these pronouns are placed after all and both, if there are any in the offer. Let's dive into the examples and consider all the cases.

Her ticket is on the table. — Her ticket is on the table.

It isn't my bus. - This is not my bus.

Your friend came to see me yesterday. — Your friend visited me yesterday.

He gave me her address. — He gave me her address.

Where is mygreen pencil? - Where is my green pencil?

Hiselder brother writes poems. — His older brother writes poetry.

Allmy books are in the bag. — All my books are in my bag.

Bothhis friends smoke, but he doesn’t. Both of his friends smoke, but he doesn’t.

• Possessives pronouns-nouns(or absolute form). This subgroup is used without a noun and performs its function as a subject, a nominal part of a predicate or an object. They can appear either at the end or in the middle of a sentence.

As can be seen from the table, they are identical in meaning and translation, but the formation and use will have to be remembered. To make it easier to remember, look: his - the two forms are the same, I changes to mine, and the ending -s is added to all the others. Let's look at examples where the absolute form is used. According to lexical norms, it is advisable to use it so as not to duplicate the noun that was used in the previous replica.

Are these your spectacles? - No, they are not mine. - Are these your glasses? No, they are not mine.

Her house is not far from ours.— Her house is not far from ours.

Does this book belong to Mary? - No, It's yours.— Does this book belong to Mary? - No, it's yours.

Her score was better than theirs.“Her score was better than theirs.”

We'll leave her house after dinner, so we should be at yours before 10.

Translation

When translating from English into Russian, problems usually do not arise. You just have to remember all the forms. But in English! Here you often come across bumps that cause you to trip painfully. To ensure you are on the right path to learning a language, remember some features:

1. In the Russian version they can stand "his, theirs" , which can be translated by English possessive and personal pronouns. The first ones answer the question whose? whose?, and the second - whom? What?

I saw him. - I saw him (someone - personal).

This is his watch. - This is his watch (whose - possessive).

I met them. - I met them (whom - personal).

This is their home. - This is their house (whose is possessive).

2. Russian also often confuses "mine", because in English there is no corresponding form. Therefore, we translate with one of the possessive pronouns, which depends on the subject.

I gave my car to my son. — I have given my car to my son.

He lost his keys. — He has lost his keys.

They gave us their food. — They gave us their food.

I don't have a ticket. Can you sell me yours? — I haven’t got a ticket. Can you sell me yours?

3. Very often in Russian in general absentT possessive pronoun, and in English it should be. Only if the meaning “your” is implied, is it necessary to use this part of speech. This is where many people make the mistake of using the instead of a pronoun. Most often, this situation occurs before nouns denoting parts of the body, family members, or clothing.

I told my wife everything. — I have told everything to my wife (not the wife - means to his wife.)

They put their hands in their pockets. - They put their hands into their pockets (your hands in your pockets).

Put on your coat! —Put on your coat!

There is nothing complicated here. If you need to insert possessive pronouns into English sentence, then look at the presence of a noun: if there is, then the relative form, if not, then the absolute form. Of course, you need to do exercises to consolidate all the material.

Exercises

1. An old friend of (us, our, ours) telephoned yesterday and said he would visit (us, our, ours).
2. Is that picture on the wall (your, yours, you)?
3. (They, their, theirs) holiday starts the week after (we, our, ours).
4. Can we have (you, your, yours) suggestion first and then we’ll hear (he, him, his)?
5. I didn’t bother going to (she, her, hers) party and she won’t be coming to (me, my, mine).
6. (Us, our, ours) flight was delayed but (their, theirs, them) took off on time.
7. Can I borrow (your, yours, you) pen? — I’m sorry, it isn’t (my, mine, me).
8. Bob is one of (our, ours, us) best pupils.
9. She has no mistakes in (her, hers, she) test.
10. (My, mine, me) hands are cold, but (your, yours, you) are warm.

1. ours, us.
2.yours
3. theirs, ours
4. your, his
5. her, mine
6. ours, theirs
7. your, mine.
8.our
9. her
10. my, yours

It would seem that there is nothing simpler than the pronouns: “I, you, he, she - together the whole country", "It's yours for you, and it's mine for me." But how to say this in English? In today's article we will look at the basic rules for using personal and possessive pronouns in English language.

Personal pronouns in English

In English, a personal pronoun is used instead of a noun that we know or have already mentioned. This allows you to avoid repetitions in speech.

This is Jim. Jim is a policeman. Jim lives in New York. - This Jim. Jim police officer. Jim lives in New York.

Agree, there is too much Jim for three sentences. This can be easily corrected if we combine the two sentences into one and replace the name Jim with the pronoun he.

This is Jim. He is a policeman and lives in New York. - This Jim. He police officer and lives in New York.

A personal pronoun can be:

1. Subject pronoun

   This pronoun is used in place of the subject in a sentence and denotes the one who performs the action. Subject pronouns come before the verb and answer the questions “who?” So what?".

2. Object pronoun

   The pronoun is used in a sentence instead of an object, that is, the action is directed to it. Object pronouns come after the verb and answer the questions “whom?/what?”, “to whom?/what?”, “whom?/what?”, “by whom?/what?”, “about whom?” / about what?".

Personal pronouns instead of subject

The table below shows personal pronouns that are used in English instead of the subject.

Now let's look at some features of these pronouns:

• Pronoun I

  I is always written with a capital letter.

  I am a dreamer. - I dreamer.
  Mom says I can do it. - Mom says that I I can do it.

  If I is in a sentence next to another personal pronoun, then I is placed in second place.

  She and I are best friends. - We With her best friends.
  He and I played tennis together. - We With him played tennis.

• Pronouns he, she and it

  The pronouns he and she are used to refer to people. And to denote inanimate objects, phenomena and animals, the pronoun it is used.

  You know Jane. She is kind and modest. - You know Jane. She kind and modest.
  Did you see the new building yesterday? It is big. - Did you see the new building yesterday? It big.

  And if you treat your pet as a member of the family, when talking about him, you can use he or she rather than it.

  Your dog doesn't like me. It barks at me.
  - My dog ​​never barks at people. He's a good boy.
  - Your dog doesn't love me. He barks at me.
  - My dog ​​never barks at people. He good boy.

  The pronoun it is also used in impersonal sentences (in which there is no character) to describe weather, time, distance, etc.

  It's a quarter to nine. - It's fifteen minutes to nine now.
  It's foggy outside. - It's foggy outside.
  It's three kilometers between the villages. - The distance between the villages is three kilometers.

• Pronoun you

  You is translated as "you", "you" or "you" depending on the context, but agrees with the plural verb.

  You look good in this dress. - You you look good in this dress.
  You all are beautiful. - You everyone is beautiful.
  Mrs. Walmer, I think you will be a good nurse. - Mrs. Walmer, I think You you will be a good nurse.

Personal pronouns instead of objects

In the table we present personal pronouns that are used instead of an object and appear in a sentence after the verb.

Personal pronouns
Singular	Plural
me (me, me, me, about me)	us (us, us, us, about us)
you (you, you, by you, about you)	you (you, to you, by you, about you)
him, her, it (his/her, him/her, im/her, about him/her)	them (their, them, them, about them)

Let's look at examples:

He will help me tomorrow. - He will help to me Tomorrow.
He told us the story. - He said us this story.

We also use these pronouns after the prepositions about (about), on (at), in (in), with (with), for (for) and others.

Stay with us. - Stay with us.
I am doing this for her. - I'm doing it for her.

You can fix the topic and take tests in our articles “Personal pronouns in the English language” and “”.

Possessive adjectives and pronouns in English

In English there are two possessive forms:

1. Possessive adjectives
2. Possessive pronouns(possessive pronouns)

Both forms denote that something belongs to someone and answer the question “whose?/whose?/whose?/whose?”

Although this article is about pronouns, we will also cover adjectives so you don't get them confused.

Personal pronouns	Possessive adjectives	Possessive pronouns
I	my (my)	mine (my)
he	his (him)	his (him)
she	her (her)	hers (her)
it	its (his/her)	its (his/her)
we	our (our)	ours (our)
you	your (yours/yours)	yours (yours/yours)
they	their	theirs (theirs)

So what is the difference between a possessive adjective and a pronoun? A possessive adjective in English always comes before a noun and characterizes it.

This is my cup. - This my cup.
His phone is on the table. - His phone lies on the table.
Your music is annoying. - Your music annoys.

A possessive pronoun does not characterize a noun, but replaces the construction “possessive adjective + noun”. Most often, such pronouns appear at the end of a sentence.

Are those shoes mine? - Those shoes my?
It's their dog, and that is ours. - This is their dog, and this is - our.
My dress is prettier than yours. - My dress is more beautiful yours.
Her cake was better than theirs. - Her cake was tastier than their.

We can also use a possessive pronoun after a noun with the preposition of.

This is Ross. He is a friend of me my mine. - This is Ross. He my Friend.

Also, possessive adjectives and pronouns have other features that should be remembered:

• In English there is no pronoun corresponding to the Russian “svoy”. Therefore, we translate it according to the context using possessive adjectives or pronouns.

  I'll take my(possessive adjective) bag and you take yours(possessive pronoun). - I will take my (mine) bag, and you take it my (yours).

• Possessive adjective and possessive pronoun its written without an apostrophe. If you meet it's, then this is a shortened grammatical form: it's = it + is.

  The cat played with its(possessive adjective) toy. - The cat was playing with his a toy.

• Formally, its exists as a possessive pronoun, but its use is avoided. It is used only with the pronoun own - its own (own, own).

  Each district of the city has the charm of its own(possessive pronoun). - Every district of the city has your own Charm.

We have also collected for you the personal and possessive pronouns of the English language in one diagram for clarity. You can use it as a cheat sheet.

We invite you to watch a funny video from the Looney Tunes cartoon series. In this episode you will see how desperately the drake Daffy Duck tries to get hunter Elmer Fudd to shoot Bugs Bunny the rabbit. But Daffy has one problem - he gets confused about pronouns.

Try taking a short test on the use of personal and possessive pronouns in English.

Test on the topic “Personal and possessive pronouns in English”

We hope that our article helped you understand the features correct use personal and possessive pronouns in English. If you want to practice the rules you have learned using examples that you understand, go to one of them.

“I love him” and “I love his cat” - in Russian, the form of the personal pronoun answering the question “who?” is completely identical to the possessive pronoun answering the question “whose?”. It's not like that in English. Let's look at two types of pronouns that indicate a person, be it the object itself or the person who performs the action or on whom the action is performed, or who belongs to someone or something:

• Personal pronouns (who? what? whom? to whom? etc.)
• Possessive pronouns (whose?)

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are pronouns that indicate a subject, but do not name it, that is: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. We are lucky to have you. In English, personal pronouns have only two cases:

• Nominative – as in Russian, the nominative case is always only the subject;
• Objective - combines everything that in the Russian language would be expressed by all other cases except the nominative.

	Nominative		Objective case
	You know the truth. They can help you.		Let's me see the book. Ask him to do it. Tell her to come. Put it on the floor. Explain it to us. I'll meet you at the airport. Can you help them?

It is important to remember that in English there is no pronoun “you”. There was once a pronoun in English, “thou,” which can sometimes be intimidating to those who open a volume of Shakespeare for the first time in their lives. But this is just a harmless “you.” It is not currently used. Instead, we have long used “you,” which comes from ye – you (plural). That is, before it was both you - thou, and you - ye. In the end, only “you” remained. Therefore, every time you use the pronoun “you,” you are addressing the person with you. It’s not for nothing that they say that the British are the most polite nation in the world.

It is important to note that some languages ​​also have an indefinite personal pronoun that replaces an arbitrary subject regardless of gender - for example, French. on and it. man. In English, this pronoun is “one.” For example, one doesn’t have to know everything in order to succeed.

Possessive pronouns

These pronouns qualify the noun and answer the questions “whose, whose, whose.”
Possessive pronouns have two forms

	Possessive pronoun as a definition		Possessive pronoun as a noun
		Her name is Jane. Its (the dog’s) tail is long. We like our teacher. Can I have your book? Answer their question.		It's your bag. Where's mine? I know her address, tell me his. His name is Tom, what is hers? It’s not the dogs bowl. I want its. It’s their teacher, and that is ours. We like our teacher. Do you like yours? Theirs is a new house.

The possessive pronoun cannot be used alone in its defining function. It always accompanies a noun. And, conversely, the possessive pronoun in the function of a noun is always used separately and is most often used in order to avoid tautology:
I know her address, tell me his.(His = his + address)
This is his cars and that’s ours.(Ours = our + car)

Pay attention to the strict correspondence between the use of possessive and personal pronouns.
She took her bag and left.(She took her bag and left.)
The students wanted to see their papers.(The students wanted to see their work.)

With nouns denoting parts of the body, items of clothing, relatives, as a rule, possessive pronouns are used rather than the definite article.
Close your eyes. Put on your hat. This is my sister.

If you want to “pull up” your grammar, finally learn English, and if you don’t have enough language practice, then fill out an application for a free trial lesson with the best teachers on the site right now!

ex. 1 Replace the highlighted words with personal pronouns.
Example: Pete lives here. I saw Pete yesterday. -> He lives here. I saw him yesterday.

1. Alice is my girlfriend. I love Alice.
2. Jane and I saw Mark but Mark didn't see Jane and me.
3. I told Steve and Carol to come.
4. My parents liked the cat and bought the cat.
5. Why are the books on the table? Put the books on the shelf.
6. It's a nice bird. Listen how lovely the bird is singing.
7. Your friend and you are late again.
8. My sister and I are great friends.
9. I haven't seen Pete and Alex today.
10. Steve and Mark have invited my friend and me to the cinema.

ex. 2 Change the highlighted sentences or parts of sentences according to the example.

Example: This is not my pen. I want my pen. -> I want mine.

1. This is my girlfriend and that's his girlfriend.
2. Their street is not as busy as our street.
3. These are my children and those are her children.
4. My flat is smaller than their flat.
5. It's not your umbrella. It's my umbrella.
6. My telephone doesn't work. Can I use your telephone?

ex. 3Fill in the blanks with pronouns.

1. How many times a day do you brush....teeth?

2. We want him to stay with....... in summer.

3.Mr. Smart is rich........ car is very expensive.

We present to you the first article in the “English Grammar for Beginners” series. In this series of materials, we decided to present all the rules briefly and in simple words, so that beginners “from scratch” or those who do not remember the basics of English well can independently figure out the grammar, understand it and apply it in practice.

Plural in English

In English, as in Russian, all words are divided into countable and uncountable. This is important to understand in education. plural one word or another. Countable nouns denote those objects that can be counted, for example: table (table), book (book), apple (apple). Uncountable nouns are abstract concepts, liquids, products, etc., that is, things that cannot be counted. For example: knowledge, water, meat, flour. These words have no plural or singular.

Countable nouns can be used in singular or plural. noun in singular denotes one object, this is the form of the word that is indicated in the dictionary: apple - apple. A plural noun denotes several objects: apples - apples.

How to form the plural of nouns:

Usually the plural of nouns is formed by adding the ending -s to the word: book – books (book – books). However, there are several spelling features:

• If the word ends in -o, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, then add the ending -es: hero – heroes (hero – heroes), bus – buses (bus – buses).

  Exceptions: photo - photos (photo - photographs), video - videos (video recording - video recordings), radio - radios (radio - several radios), rhino - rhinos (rhino - rhinoceroses), piano - pianos (piano - several pianos), hippo - hippos (hippopotamus – hippopotamuses).

• If the word ends in -f, -fe, then change the ending to -ves: knife – knives, leaf – leaves, wife – wives.

  Exceptions: roof - roofs (roof - roofs), giraffe - giraffes (giraffe - giraffes), cliff - cliffs (cliff - cliffs).

• If a word ends in -y, preceded by a consonant, then we change -y to -ies: body – bodies (body – bodies).
• If the word ends in -y, preceded by a vowel, then add the ending -s: boy – boys (boy – boys).

In English there is also exception words, which form the plural irregularly. You just need to learn such words by heart; fortunately, there are not very many of them.

Singular	Plural
man - man	men - men
woman - woman	women - women
child - child	children - children
person - person	people - people
foot - foot	feet - feet
mouse - mouse	mice - mice
tooth - tooth	teeth - teeth
sheep - sheep	sheep - sheep

Try our test to see how well you have understood the material.

English Plural Noun Test

Articles in English

There are two types of articles in English: definite and indefinite. They are not translated into Russian. In the vast majority of cases, one of these articles must be placed before a singular noun.

The indefinite article a/an is used only with countable nouns in the singular: a girl (girl), a pen (handle). If a word begins with a consonant sound, we write the article a (a girl), and if the word begins with a vowel sound, we write the article an (an apple).

The indefinite article a/an is used in the following cases:

• We name any indefinite object, and we have only one, which is why we use the article a, which comes from the word one (one):

  It is a book. - This is a book.

• We mention the subject for the first time in speech:

  I see a shop. - I see (some, one of many) store.

• We talk about a person’s profession or indicate his belonging to a certain group:

  He is a teacher. - He is a teacher.
  She is a student. - She is a student.

We use the definite article the when we are talking about a specific object that is familiar to us. This article can appear before a singular or plural noun.

The definite article the is used in the following cases:

• We have already mentioned the subject earlier in our speech:

  I see a shop. The shop is big. - I see a store. (This) store is big.

  It is believed that the definite article comes from the word that (that), therefore it is intended to indicate some specific object familiar to the interlocutors.

• We are talking about an object that in this context is one of a kind and cannot be confused with something else:

  Honey, I'm washing the car. - Honey, I'm washing the car. (the family has one car, so we are talking about a specific item)
  Look at the girl in the red dress. - Look at the girl in the red dress. (we point to a specific girl in a specific dress)

• We are talking about a one-of-a-kind object, there is no other like it: the sun, the moon, the world, the President of France, etc.:

  The earth is our home. - Earth is our home.

Verb to be

There is always a verb in an English sentence. And if in Russian we can say “I am a doctor”, “Mary is beautiful”, “We are in the hospital”, then in English this is unacceptable: in all these cases the verb to be must appear after the subject. Therefore, you can remember a simple rule: if there are no ordinary verbs in a sentence, then the verb to be is needed.

The verb to be has three forms:

• Am is added to the pronoun I when we talk about ourselves:

  I am beautiful. - I am beautiful.

• Is is placed after the pronouns he, she, it:

  She is beautiful. - She's beautiful.

• Are is used after you, we, they:

  You are beautiful. - You are handsome.

The verb to be in English is most often used in the following cases:

• We inform you that by whom is a person (name, profession, etc.):

  I am a doctor. - I am doctor.

• We inform you that what a person or thing has a quality:

  Mary is beautiful. - Mary is beautiful.

• We inform you that Where there is a person or object:

  We are at the hospital. - We're in the hospital.

Sentences with the verb to be in the present tense are constructed as follows:

Affirmative sentences	Negative sentences	Interrogative sentences
Principle of Education
I + am	I + am not ('m not)	Am+I
He/She/It + is	He/She/It + is not (isn’t)	Is + he/she/it
We/You/They + are	We/You/They + are not (aren’t)	Are + we/you/they
Examples
I am a manager. - I am a manager.	I am not a manager. - I'm not a manager.	Am I a manager? - I am a manager?
It's awesome. - He's great.	It's not awesome. - He's not great.	Is he awesome? - He's great?
She is a doctor. - She is a doctor.	She isn't a doctor. - She's not a doctor.	Is she a doctor? - She is a doctor?
It (ball) is red. - It (the ball) is red.	It (ball) isn't red. - It (the ball) is not red.	Is it (ball) red? - Is it (the ball) red?
We are the champions. - We are champions.	We aren't the champions. - We are not champions.	Are we the champions? - We are champions?
You are ill. - You are sick.	You are not ill. - You are not sick.	Are you ill? - You are sick?
They are at home. - They are at home.	They aren't at home. - They are not at home.	Are they at home? - They are at home?

We think you are now ready to take the test and test your knowledge.

Test for the use of the verb to be

Present Continuous Tense - present continuous tense

Present Continuous Tense most often shows that the action takes place in this moment.

Every English sentence has a subject and a predicate. In the Present Continuous, the predicate consists of the auxiliary verb to be in the required form (am, is, are) and the main verb without the particle to, to which we add -ing ending(playing, reading).

She is playing tennis now. - She is now plays to tennis.
I am reading a novel at the moment. - I'm currently I'm reading novel.

The verb to be in this tense is an auxiliary verb, that is, it is a word that comes before the main verb (playing, reading) and helps to form tense. you will meet auxiliary verbs and in other tenses, this type of verb includes to be (am, is, are), do/does, have/has, will.

Please note the following tense words Present Continuous: now (now), at the moment (at the moment), today (today), tonight (tonight), these days (these days), currently (these days), at present (currently), still (still).

Affirmative sentences in the Present Continuous are formed as follows:

Usually in this tense you just need to add the ending -ing to the main verb: walk – walking (walk), look – looking (look). But some verbs change like this:

• If the verb ends in -e, we remove the -e and add -ing: write – writing, dance – dancing.

  Exception: see – seeing (to see).

• If the verb ends in -ie, we change -ie to -y and add -ing: lie – lying (lie), die – dying (die).
• If the verb ends stressed syllable with a short vowel that comes between two consonants, the final consonant is doubled by adding -ing: begin – beginning (begin), swim – swimming (swim).

In negative sentences in the Present Continuous, you just need to insert the particle not between to be and the main verb.

She isn't cooking at the moment. - At the moment she doesn't cook.
You are not listening to me now. - You don't listen me now.

IN interrogative sentences in the Present Continuous you need to put the verb to be in the first place, and after it put the subject and main verb.

Is she cooking at the moment? - She trains At the moment?
Are you listening to me now? - You me now are you listening?

Now we suggest you take a test on using the Present Continuous tense.

Test for use of Present Continuous

We presented you with the first 5 basic topics in English. Now your task is to thoroughly understand them and work through them as productively as possible with the help of exercises. In order not to burden you with a large amount of grammar at once, we will release the next article in this series in a few weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter, then you definitely won't miss out important information. We wish you success in learning English!