Table 1-4: SUBJECT PRONOUN + VERB BE + NOUN

Forms of be Subject Pronouns

AM – IS – ARE I, You, He, She, It, We, You, They
SINGULAR PLURAL
1 I am a doctor. 1 We are doctors.
2 You are a doctor. 2 You are doctors.
3 He is a doctor. 3 They are doctors.
4 She is a doctor.
5 It is a hospital.
1 Kathy is in the hospital. She is a doctor. Subject pronouns refer to subjects or
2 Bart is in the hospital. He is a doctor. nouns.
3 Kathy and Bart are in the hospital. They are In example “1” the pronoun “SHE” refers
doctors. to Kathy.
In example “2” the pronouns “HE” refers
to Bart.
In example “3” the pronoun “THEY”
refer to Kathy and Bart.

PRACTICE 9: Complete the sentences below. Use some form of the verb BE: am, is or are.

1. I am a rugby player.
2. I ________ from Tahiti.
3. You ________gas station attendants.
4. She ________from Curacao.
5. We ________ explorers in South Africa.
6. It ________ a wild bee.
7. It ________ Saturday night.
8. I ________ a veterinary doctor.
9. You _______ an engineer.
10. We _______ visitors from Iceland.
11. My name _______ Al Sandoval.
12. We _______ experts in the field.
13. Theresa and Silvia _______ from Mexico City.
14. You (singular/one person) _______________.
15. You (plural/two persons) _______________.
16. Luis, Bart, Rogelio, and I ________doctors at the hospital.
17. She _______ an excellent tennis player.
18. We _______ students in that university.
19. Julie and Olga _______ in a conference.
20. They _______ at the swimming pool.
 21. It _______ very warm today.
22. Gina and Juliana _______ in South America today.
23. We _______ from Belgium.
24. I _______________________________________.
25. You_____________________________________.
26. He ______________________________________.
27. She _____________________________________.
28. It _______________________________________.
29. We _____________________________________.
30. They ____________________________________.

PRACTICE10: Talk about yourself. Then when you finish practicing videotape yourself.

Hi! My name is……; I am……. years old….; I am from….; I like….; My hobbies are…., etc.

Vocabulary and Speaking Practice. PowerPoint: Describing People and Things

Work with your instructor.

Table 1-5: CONTRACTIONS WITH THE VERB “BE”

English speakers habitually like to use
I am a teacher. I’m a teacher. contractions. A contraction is a short form. It
means that two words are pushed together
You are a teacher. You’re a teacher.
into one. They are used in writing and
He is a teacher. He’s a teacher. speaking. The “apostrophe” (’) is the
punctuation mark in the middle of a
She is a teacher. She’s a teacher. contraction.

It is an animal. It’s an animal.

We are teachers. We’re teachers.

You are teachers. You’re teachers.

They are teachers. They’re teachers.

PRACTICE 11: Complete the sentences. Use contractions (pronouns + verb be).

1. Emiliano is an optician in Texas. _____He’s______ from the United States.

2. They are from England. _______ English.
3. You and I are in algebra class. __________ classmates.
4. Saul and Virginia live in a big house. _______________ husband and wife.
5. We live in an apartment on Hudson Street. ______________roommates.
6. I go to the gym. _______________ an athlete.
7. I know you and your friend. _______________ in my psychology course.
8. Kathy is a student. _______________ in my English 101 class.
9. I like my friends. _______________ awesome.
10. Portnip and Catriona are from Thailand. ____________ Thai.
11. I have seven short story books. _______________ on the daybed.
12. He works at the newspaper. _______________ a journalist.
13. My aunt and her friend are celebrating their birthday. _______________ happy.
14. You are a farmer. ________ at the corn field now.
15. My mother is old. _______________ ninety-one years old.
16. Roger is Canadian. _______ from Canada.
17. Rich has two grandmothers and two grandfathers. _______________ a nice family.
18. I have a cat. _______________ on its little house next to the tree.
19. Yolanda, Hilda and Carmen are gymnasts. _______________ exercising in the USA.
20. The factories are in Canberra. ________ Australian factories.
21. They really like their vehicle. _______________ an expensive vehicle.
22. We like apple pie. __________________ delicious.