Grammar in Context 2Chapter 1

Simple Present Tense Verbs• To Be

• Regular Verbs• To Do

Frequency Words Questions with Ever/How Often

Instructions

• Watch this slide show 2 or 3 times.• Make your own notes – try to do 2 column notes –

don’t just “copy” the slideshow word for word, but rather reword the ideas, make your own examples, and try to sort the ideas so that they make sense for you.

• Copy down what the seatwork questions will be and look over the exercises in the textbook.

• The teacher will check your notes for study skill marks, and then there will be time in class to do the grammar work.

Simple Present Tense Verbs

To Be Simple Present Tense Regular Verbs To Do To Have

Verb – To BeSimple Present Tense

I amYou are

He/She/It isWe are

They are

How to use the verb “To Be”• “Is” has an /s/ sound so we can’t make a

contraction (‘s) if the noun ends with a similar sound like /s/, /z/, /sh/ or /ch/.

– This is a problem. NOT This’s a problem– The beach is sandy. NOT The beach’s sandy.– English is hard. NOT English’s hard.

Contractions – “To Be”

• You can make contractions with – “we are we’re”– “you are you’re”– “they are they’re”

• BUT you CAN’T make a contraction with a noun and “are”– There are many fish in the lake.– The teachers are busy.

Use “To Be” with Adjectives• Adjectives describe nouns, and we use the verb

“to be” with adjectives.– Mr. Williams is tall.– Hot dogs are yummy.

• Some “ed” words are adjectives (not past tense verbs)– I am tired.– She is excited.– They aren’t interested.

Use To Be when adding descriptive adjectives

• Use “to be” when you add an adjective and noun to classify, define or explain the noun– British Columbia is a big province.– Surrey is a growing city.

• Use the verb “to be” for physical states e.g. “to be tired” “to be hungry”.

She’s worried.They’re tired.He’s lonely.

Verb “To Be” with Prepositional Phrases

• When you have a prepositional phrase with a location (place)– Vancouver is near Surrey.– British Columbia is beside Alberta.– The students are in the classroom.

• When you have a prepositional phrase with a place of origin (where you came from).– Kangaroos are from Australia.– You are from Germany.

Regular Verbs – Simple Present Tense

I walkYou walk

He/She/It walksWe walk

They walk

Simple Present Tense of Regular Verbs

• For the third person “he/she/it” add “s”

• If you forget the “s” when you write a sentence or paragraph, the teacher will write “v.a.” which means verb agreement. The teacher is saying that you forgot the “s” for third person simple present tense.

Verb – To DoSimple Present Tense

I doYou do

He/She/It doesWe do

They do

Verb – to do• The verb “to do” is an auxiliary verb (a helper verb). It

doesn’t affect the meaning.

• You use the verb “to do” to make questions and negative statements.– Do you enjoy eating spicy food?– He doesn’t want to go to school today.

• You can also use the verb “to do” to add stress or emphasis.– I do understand– I do enjoy

Frequency Words -- Qualifiers

• Qualifiers suggest how much or how likely something is to happen

• Think of them in terms of percentages “%”

for example – think of “Always” as 100%and “Never” as 0%.

Frequency Words Chartalways 100%usually/generallyoften/frequentlysometimes/occasionallyrarely/seldom/hardly evernever/not ever 0%

The words in blue can be used at the beginning of the sentence or after the verb “to be” or before all other verbs.

How to use “frequency words” in a sentence

• Frequency words come after the verb “to be”I’m usually busy at lunch.

He’s never late for school.We’re frequently nervous before tests.

• Frequency words come before other verbsI sometimes talk when the teacher talks.I never eat sushi for breakfast.The cat usually sleeps all day.

• Six (6) of the frequency verbs can be used at the start of a sentence.– Usually, Generally, Often, Frequently, Sometimes,

Occasionally

Usually Wednesdays and Thursdays are double block days.Sometimes there is a special event so the school changes the timetable.Occasionally the wifi network stops working.

Questions with “Ever”

• When you want to ask a yes/no type of question where the answer will need a frequency word.

• Do you ever swim in the school pond?– No I never.

• Do the teachers ever give hard tests?– Yes, sometimes the teachers give hard tests.

Questions with “How Often”

• We ask the question “how often” when we want to know how regularly or how frequently something happens.

• How often do they have dances at school?– The school has dances 3 times a year.

• How often do they have assemblies at school?– They have assemblies once a month.

• How often does the teacher buy French vanilla coffee?– The teacher buys fancy coffee every Friday.

Textbook Seatwork We will do these exercises in class.

Answer the following exercises on your own paper (don’t write in the textbook). Answer with full sentences, unless it says “answer only” then you can just give the word or words to fill in the blank.• Exercise #1, 1-10• Exercise #2, all• Exercise #5, all (answers only)• Exercise #6, 1 – 5

• Exercise #7, 1 – 5• Exercise #9, make questions 1 – 5• Exercise #10, make questions 1 – 5• Exercise #11, 1 – 5• Exercise #12, all (answers only)• Exercise #13, all (answers only)• Exercise #14, 1-5• Exercise #15, 1-5• Exercise #16, make questions 1 – 5• Exercise #17, make questions 1 - 5