We use the verb “to be” to talk about ourselves and our nationality.

The verb “to be”

I am
You are
He / She / It is
We are
They are
Notes
We use “you” for one person or for more than one person.
We use “you” in formal and informal situations.

For example:

How are you? (I’m talking to my sister.)

How are you? (I’m talking to my sister and my brother.)
How are you? (I’m talking to my friend.)
How are you? (I’m talking to a customer.)

Negative
I am not (I’m not)
You are not (You aren’t)
He is not (He isn’t)
She is not (She isn’t)
We are not (We aren’t)
They are not (They aren’t)

Question form
Am I ….?
Are you ….?
Is he / she / it …?
Are we ….?
Are they …?

Short answers
Yes, I am / No I’m not
Yes, you are / No you aren’t
Yes, he, she, it is / No he, she, it isn’t
Yes, we are / No we aren’t
Yes, they are / No they aren’t

In the past
I was (wasn’t = negative)
You were (weren’t = negative)
He was (wasn’t)
We were (weren’t)
They were (weren’t)
Was I…? Were you …? etc

There is / There are

We also use the verb “to be” to talk about what exists. We use “there is” (singular)
and “there are” (plural) for this. For example:

“There’s a good film on TV tonight.”

“There are some people in the shop.”

Verb “to be” exercise – Present and Past

Decide which answer is correct.

1. __ she from Spain?

• Am

• Are

• Is
2. Where __ you from?

• am

• are

• is
3. We __ from Spain. We're from Portugal!

• are

• aren't

• not
4. He __ rich. He's poor!

• is

• isn't

• not
5. Are you English? Yes I __
• am

• be

• is
6. She __ a student. She's a teacher.

• is

• isn't

• was
7. Are they students? No, they __

• am

• aren't

• not
8. Is he a doctor? Yes, he __

• be

• is

• was
9. Are you all on holiday here? No, we __

• am

• are

• aren't
10. Are you a teacher here? No, I'm __

• am

• not

• was
11. Was she on holiday last week? No, she __

• not

• was

• wasn't
12. Where __ you yesterday?

• are

• was

• were
13. Were they at work? Yes, they __

• was

• were

• weren't
14. Were you pleased to see her? Yes, I __

• am

• was

• were
15. Was it cold at the football match? Yes, it __

• is

• was

• wasn't
16. We __ happy. We were sad!

• are

• aren't

• weren't
17. __ you happy with the exam? No, I wasn't.

• Are

• Aren't

• Were
18. __ John in the team? No, he wasn't.

• Is

• Was
• Weren't
19. Were Jim and Sue at the match? No, they __

• aren't

• wasn't

• weren't
20. Was Deborah there? No, she __

• is

• wasn't

• weren't

•
Nationalities
We use the verb “to be” to talk about nationalities

“I am English.” (from England)

“He is French.” (from France)
“ish”, “ian”, “an”, “ese” are all common nationality endings.

If you can’t remember the nationality word, you can say “I’m from….” (and say the
name of your country.)

Europe
Britain – British
Ireland – Irish
France – French
Italy – Italian
Spain – Spanish
Portugal – Portuguese
Greece – Greek
Cyprus – Cypriot
Malta – Maltese
Albania – Albanian
Serbia – Serbian
Croatia – Croatian
Bosnia – Bosnian
Germany – German
Austria – Austrian
Hungary – Hungarian
Switzerland – Swiss
Belgium – Belgian
Netherlands – Dutch
Sweden – Swedish
Finland – Finnish
Norway – Norwegian
Denmark – Danish
Lithuania – Lithuanian
Latvia – Latvian
Estonia – Estonian
Russia – Russian
Georgia – Georgian
Belarus – Belarusian
Poland – Polish
Czech Republic – Czech
Slovakia – Slovakian
Ukraine – Ukrainian
Romania – Romanian
Moldova – Moldovan
Bulgaria – Bulgarian
Turkey – Turkish

Pronouns
Pronouns replace nouns. You can use them to avoid repetition.

For example:

David is a doctor. He is a doctor. (He = David.)

Sarah is a lawyer. She is a lawyer. (She = Sarah.)
Two types of pronouns are subject pronouns, and object pronouns.

Subject pronouns are pronouns that replace the nouns which are the subject of the
verb.

Object pronouns are pronouns that replace the nouns which are the object of the
verb.

Subject pronouns
Subject pronouns are the subject of the verb.

I
you
he
she
it
we
they
For example:

John and Alice live in New York. They have a house in Brooklyn.
Alice is a lawyer. She loves her job.
John is a doctor. He works in a hospital.
Object pronouns
Object pronouns are the object of a verb. They come after the verb, and after
prepositions.

Here’s a list of subject and object pronouns:

I —– me
You —- you
He —- him
She — her
It —- it
We —- us
They —- them

I love David, and he loves me.

You and I are neighbours. I know you.
He is my friend. I like him.
She studies English. I teach her.
I like reading. I like it.
He helps Sarah and me. He helps us.
They are students. I teach them.
Here are examples of object pronouns after prepositions.

I‘m going to the cinema tonight. Come with me.

Do you want to see the new film? Yes, I’ll go to the cinema with you.
He helps me with English. I get help from him.
I want to buy a present for Diana. I want to buy a present for her.
We have two children. They live with us.
I don’t want to speak to David and Robert. I don’t want to speak to them.

Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives say who owns something. Because they are adjectives, they
don’t have a plural (or feminine / masculine) form. They link to the person who owns /
has something: not the object.

Here’s a list of subjects and possessive adjectives:

I — my
You — your
He — his
She — her
It — its
We — our
They — their

I have a car. My car is red.

You have a house. Your house is beautiful.
He is married. His wife’s name is Carol.
She is married. Her husband is a chef.
It is a small company. Its profits are small.
We have one child. Our family is small.
They have a pet dog. Their dog is a Doberman.

Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns show who is the owner of an object, and replace the object.

For example:

I have a red car. It is mine.

Here’s a list of possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.

my — mine
your — yours
his — his
her — hers
our — ours
their — theirs

Your house is small. My house is bigger than yours. (= bigger than your house)
His car is big. But my car is bigger than his. (= bigger than his car)
I like her car. I like hers.
This is our car. This is ours.
This isn’t our car. It’s theirs. (=their car)

Pronouns and Possessives Exercise

Decide which answer is correct.

1. The two actors are famous. __ are American.

• Are

• Is

• They
2. Are __ Spanish? No, I'm not.

• be

• he

• you
3. Are you and Sally American? No, __'re from the UK.

• they

• we

• were
4. Barbara is married to Steve. __ is Steve's wife.

• He

• Her

• She
5. Tony and I want to try the new Chinese restaurant tonight. Come with __ !

• us

• we

• you
6. My favourite singers are Rihanna and Ed Sheeran. Do you like __ ?

• her

• them

• theirs
7. Rihanna? I don't know __

• her

• it

• them
8. My son is fortunate. His teacher helps __ at school.

• he

• him
• it
9. Steve and I live in London. __ have a small house.

• Them

• Us

• We
10. I love the cinema. Do you like __ ?

• it

• it's

• them
11. We live in London. __ house is small.

• It's

• Our

• We
12. __ new motorbike is beautiful! You are a lucky man!

• Mine

• Your

• You're
13. I love reading. __ favourite books are mysteries and detective novels.

• Mine

• My

• Our
14. Rachel got married! __ husband is an architect.

• Her

• His

• Their
15. John says __ boss is terrible!

• her
• his

• it's
16. Is this your umbrella? No, __ is blue, not black.

• mine

• my

• ours
17. Rick and Anna, are these your coats? No, __ are over there.

• hers

• ours

• yours
18. We have got our tickets, but David hasn't got __

• hers

• his

• theirs
19. This isn't my umbrella - it's __ !

• he's

• your

• yours
20. __ town is old and famous.

• It's

• Our

• Ours
Talking about you
Here is some vocabulary to talk about your status.

I am married.
I have a husband / I have a wife.
For example:

Sarah (a woman) is married to David. (a man)

Sarah is the wife of David.
David is the husband of Sarah.
I am engaged. (I will get married soon)
I am single. (no husband / no wife)
I have a partner. (there is an important person in my life, but maybe we aren’t
married)
I have a girlfriend. (a girl / woman “important” friend, but we aren’t married)
I have a boyfriend. (a boy / man “important” friend, but we aren’t married)
I am divorced. (I was married, but not now)
I am separated. (I don’t live with my husband / wife, and perhaps we will get divorced
soon).

Talking about the people in your family

Here are some words to talk about your relatives.

mother
My mother’s name is Sandra. (mother‘s name = the name of my mother)
father
My father’s name is Robert.
sister
My sister’s name is Sarah.
brother
My brother’s name is David.
child / children
I have one child. / I have two children.
(child / children = boy or girl)

son
My son’s name is Richard.
daughter
My daughter’s name is Rebecca.
My father has a sister. His sister’s name is Maria.

My mother has a sister. Her sister’s name is Eve.

Maria is my aunt.
Eve is my aunt.
My father has a brother. His brother’s name is Henry.

My mother has a brother. Her brother’s name is William.

Henry is my uncle and William is my uncle.

The parents of my father and my mother are my grandparents.
The father of my father (and the father of my mother) is my grandfather.
The mother of my father (and the mother of my mother) is my grandmother.
My son is the grandson of my parents.
My daughter is the granddaughter of my parents.
The children of my aunt and the children of my uncle are my cousins.
The son of my brother (or my sister) is my nephew.
The daughter of my brother (or my sister) is my niece.
Look at the family tree. Then decide which answer is correct in the quiz below.

Family Tree Exercise

Choose the correct answer.

1. Who are Tina's aunts and uncles?

• Antony and Hannah

• John and Sally

• Robbie and Jenny

2. Who are Jenny's cousins?

• Erica and Antony

• Hannah and Steve

• Tina and Robbie

3. Who are Robbie's grandparents?

• Antony and Louise

• Erica and Bill

• John and Sally

4. Who are Antony's niece and nephew?

• Hannah and Steve

• Tina and Robbie

• John and Erica

5. Who is Tina's brother?

• Jenny

• Robbie

• Bill
6. Who is Robbie's sister?

• Jenny

• Tina

• Erica
7. Who are Tina's parents?

• John and Sally

• Hannah and Steve

• Erica and Bill

8. Who are Jenny's aunts and uncles?

• Erica and Antony

• Tina and Robbie

• John and Sally