UNIT 01

FIRST THINGS
FIRST
BEGINNING 01

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0Unit Study Guide(Unit 1)

1

ENGLISH BASIC GRAMMAR

A / AN / THE ARTICLES
The Simple present of the verb to be

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THIS LESSON IS ABOUT A, AN,

THE (GRAMMAR ARTICLES)

The man standing in front of me.

L'homme debout en face de moi.

A woman sitting on the chair.

Une femme assise sur la chaise.

An elephant was killed by the hunters.

Un lphant a t tu par le chasseur.

first tip
"A" (with a word that start with a consonant)
Before a word that start with a
consonant
(b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z)
A blue bird
A nice man
A wanderful dinner

"An"
Before a word that start with a vawel
(a,e,i,o,u)
An apple
An egg
An insect

Exceptions
the use of "a" or "an" depands on the
beginning sound
Hour: we see an "h" but we hear a
vowel sound "ow"
An hour (not a hour)

Exceptions
the use of "a" or "an" depands on the
beginning sound
Unique: we see an "h" but we hear a
consonant sound yoo"
A unique (not an unique)

third tip

Indefinite and definite Article

a and an
Indfinite articles

the
Definite articles.

used to describe
one or a number
of things

Used to describe
one or a number
of things

Second tip

Indefinite and definite Article

a and an
Indfinites articles
used to describe
one or a number
of things
the indefinites describes
things in general

A dog barks
the cat meows

Definite articles.
Used to describe
one or a number
of things
the definites articles
describes specific things
The dog barks (we mean the
dog that is..)
we have a particular dog in
mind

trid tip

Zero article
Somtimes an article is left out.
this happens when there is only one of
someone
or something
Sally head teacher
barack obama is president of the united
state of America

third tip

Zero article
Sometimes "the" is left out
When talking about seasons
Sring is in the air
I visited her in the sping last year
four seasons: Sring autumn winter
summer

third tip

Zero article
Sometimes "the" is left out
When talking about meals in general
when shall we have lunch
I was very happy the lunch she served
meals in a day breakfast dinner brunch

third tip

Zero article
The is left out when talking about the
function of the building
church, hospital, prison, school,
university, police
he went to university last year
the university is well situated

third tip

Zero article
when talking about languages
I love learning English
Arabic is difficult to learn

The Simple present of the verb to be

This Lesson will present the simple present of the verb to be:
its form
and its use
The verb to be
The verb to be is the most important verb in the English
language. It is difficult to use because it is an irregular verb in
almost all of its forms. In the simple present tense, to be is
conjugated as follows:

The Simple present of the verb to be

The Simple present of the verb to be

The Simple present of the verb to be

Examples:
Is Brad Pitt French?
No, he isn't. He's American.
What about Angelina Joli? Is she American, too?
Yes, she is. She is American.
Are brad Pitt and Angelina Joli French?
No, They aren't. They are American.

The Simple present of the verb to be

Use of the simple present of to be

The principal use of the simple present is to refer to an action or
event that takes place habitually, but with the verb "to be" the
simple present tense also refers to a present or general state,
whether temporary, permanent or habitual.
I am happy.
She is helpful.
The verb to be in the simple present can be also used to refer to
something that is true at the present moment.
She is 20 years old.
He is a student.

The Simple present of the verb to be

Remember:
I, you, he, she, it, you, they are subject pronouns (also
called personal pronouns, a term used to include both subject
and object pronouns.)
am, are, is are forms of the verb to be in the simple present.
'm, 're, 's are short (contracted) forms of am, are, is
'm not, aren't, isn't are short (contracted forms) of am not, are
not, is not.

The Simple present of the verb to be

The forms of the simple present

The affirmative form of the simple present:
I, you, we, they play.
He, she, it plays.
Remember
the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an
"s". For example, "heplays, she sings,it works..."
Examples:
Nancy and James speak good German.
Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.
The children play in the garden every weekend.

The Simple present of the verb to be

The interrogative form of the simple present:
Do I, you, we, they play?
Does he, she, it
Examples:
Do you speak good German?
Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?
The negative form of the simple present:
I, you, we,they do not play. (don't)
He, she, it does not (doesn't)
Examples:
No, I don't speak German.
No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown

The Simple present of the verb to be

The use of the simple present:
The simple present is used:
1. to give your opinion - I like ice cream. I don't like spicy food.
2. to talk about schedules - The library opens at eight. It doesn't
open at 7.
3. to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for
breakfast every day. She doesn't eat cereal.
4. to give facts - The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn't
circle the sun.
The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple
present:
All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the
third person singular (he, she, it) form:
Examples:
I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her
parents every weekend.
My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.
He / she / it + Verb + S

The Simple present of the verb to be

The Simple present of the verb to be

Examples:

to work every morning.

He says he plays football on the weekends
She drives

Exception:

to have changes its forms as follows:

I have tand two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers.
I have = he / she / it has
wo sisters
The verb

The Simple present of the verb to be

Things to remember about the simple present:

1.In the interrogative forms, we use "do" or "does".
"Do you like the house?"
"Does she go to school?"
2; Verbs never take an "s" in the the negative and interrogative forms.
"Does he speak German?"
"Do they play soccer?"
She doesn't like ice cream.
3. don't is the short form of "do not". You can say either:
I do not speak Italian, or
I don't speak Italian.
4.doesn't is the short form of "does not". you can say either:
He does not listen to jazz music, or
He doesn't listen to jazz music.