Unidad Nº 1: Personal Information

Objetivos:

- Reconocer los usos del verbo “to be” en el presente.

- Distinguir la conjugación del verbo “to be” de acuerdo al pronombre personal utilizado,
singular o plural.
- Formular oraciones para dar información personal.

Contenidos:

- Los diferentes usos del verbo “to be” en el presente.

- Conjugación del verbo “to be” en el singular y el plural.
- Estructura gramatical del verbo “to be” en oraciones afirmativas, negativas e
interrogativas.

HELLO EVERYBODY. WELCOME TO THE FIRST ENGLISH LESSON. I HOPE

YOU ENJOY IT!

En esta clase aprenderemos a identificar los usos del verbo “to be” (ser o estar) y su
estructura gramatical en todas sus formas: afirmativa, negativa e interrogativa, tanto en
singular como en plural.

USE of the verb to be

We use the verb ‘to be’ to talk about:

➢ Qualities: permanent or temporary qualities or states. For example:

✓ The Italian food is so good! (Permanent quality)

✓ We are brothers (Permanent state)
✓ I’m sick. (Temporary state)
✓ Cadets are in the barracks right now. (Temporary state)

➢ Nationality and place of birth:

✓ I’m Argentinian. I’m from Argentina.

✓ He is Italian. He is from Italy.
✓ We aren’t French. We are German. We are from Germany.

➢ Jobs and professions:

✓ She isn’t a flight attendant. She is a pilot.

✓ He is a military officer. He is a first lieutenant.
✓ They aren’t lawyers. They are accountants.
 we use of indefinite articles a/an with singular jobs and professions.

➢ Age:

✓ I’m ten years old.

✓ She is in her forties.

➢ Relationships: expressing how people are related.

✓ They aren’t my parents. They are my uncle and my aunt.

✓ He is my cousin.
✓ We are good friends.

➢ Places: where places (and things) are located.

✓ The bank is next to the hospital

✓ My wallet is in my bag

➢ Time and dates:

✓ What time is it? It’s five o’clock

✓ What date is it? It’s June 1st
✓ The Air Force Day in Argentina is on August 10th.

➢ Personality and physical appearance:

✓ You are so generous and helpful.

✓ She is short and thin.
.
➢ Feelings:

✓ She is very happy today.

✓ I’m really disappointed.
✓ Why are you so sad?

Use the verb to be + hungry, cold, hot, thirsty, etc.:

✓ I´m cold. (NOT I have cold)

✓ I’m very hungry. (NOT I have very hungry)
FORM

AFFIRMATIVE INTERROGATIVE NEGATIVE

Long form Short form Long form Short form
I am … I’m… Am I …? I am not … I’m not …
You are … You’re … Are you …? You are not … You aren’t …
He is … He’s … Is he …? He is not … He isn’t …
She is … She’s … Is she …? She is not … She isn’t …
It is … It’s … Is it …? It is not … It isn’t …
We are … We’re … Are we …? We are not … We aren’t …
You are … You’re … Are you …? You are not … You aren’t …
They are … They’re … Are they …? They are not … They aren’t …

➢ We use short forms in spoken or in informal written English.

➢ We use the long form of the verb ‘to be’ in positive short answers:

✓ Are you from Argentina? Yes, I am

✓ Is he at home? Yes, he is
✓ Are they Mexican? Yes, they are

➢ We use the short form of the verb ‘to be’ in negative short answers:

✓ Are you from Argentina? No, I’m not

✓ Is he at home? No, he isn’t.
✓ Are they Mexican? No, they aren´t

PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION

ID CARD NUMBER A- 89764

FIRST NAME Sarah
LAST NAME Minter
NATIONALITY American
AGE 35
JOB Pilot

She is Sarah Minter. She is 35 years old. She is American. She is from Columbus, in
the US. She is a pilot.
 Can you complete the following Identification Card with your own information?

ID CARD NUMBER
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
NATIONALITY
AGE
RANK

Great! Now write a short paragraph using the verb “to be” in the first person (I´m…)

❖ I’m…

Interactive Activities

https://wordwall.net/es/resource/3192736/verb-to-be-
https://wordwall.net/es/resource/2066888/verb-to-be

Videos:

Para complementar esta explicación les recomiendo consultar los siguientes videos:

https://youtu.be/sglOGgEHhgs (Recomiendo volver a ver este video luego de estudiar la

unidad N°3: Habits and routines).

https://youtu.be/AKwVyG5OTQk (Aclaración: este video incluye el verbo “to be” en pasado y

en futuro simple (Will), temas que veremos más adelante).

Practice:

A los fines de seguir avanzando en la comprensión del verbo “to be” y poner en
práctica lo aprendido en esta clase le propongo realizar la ejercitación que a
continuación se adjunta, junto con las correspondientes respuestas para su
autoevaluación

Bibliography:

➢ EVANS, V. and DOOLEY, J. Enterprise: Grammar 1. Express Publishing.1999

➢ MURPHY, Raymond. English Grammar in Use. Second edition. Cambridge
University Press. 1994.
➢ http://dictionary.cambridgew.org>gramaticainglesa