Many English learners face the problem of times. There are only three tenses in Russian: present, past and future. For English, this list is 4 times longer. How to determine what to put in a sentence - is or are, where these forms came from and what they are for, we will understand further.
Assignment of linking verbs
In Russian, we often omit the particle "is", simply implying it. For example:
I am Sasha
The English version of the presentation sounds literally like this:
I am Sasha
Also in conversation, we often break word order or make sentences that include only one word. Like this:
It was getting dark
English does not have the plasticity of the Russian language and is very picky about the order of words in a sentence. Linking verbs, such as is or are, serve to link the subject to other members of the sentence.
It is not possible to swap members of a sentence. For example, take the sentence:
You are beautiful
In English it looks like this:
You are beautifull (literally: you are beautiful)
But how to figure out is or are to put in a sentence? And where did these verb forms come from?
Where did the bundles come from?
The appointment is clear. But where did these verb forms come from? How to determine when to put which form - is or has, for example, and what does it depend on? This is nothing more than forms of the main English verb to be. In translation, its meaning is "to be", "to be", "to be". The form to be depends on the tense used in the sentence. For each time it has its own.
Present simple
The simplest tense in English. It refers to an action that happens constantly, every day. To build such a sentence, the forms of the verb to be - am, is or are and particles do / doeses are used. How to understand which particle to use where? When talking about introducing yourself or others, the form of the verb to be is used - are, is or am, depending on the number and person.
First person, singular - pronoun "I" (I). For him and only for him, the particle am is used. You are the second person pronoun (you). It uses the particle are. They also speak with her about the plural - we, you, they (we, you, they).
For the third person, pronouns he, she, it (he, she or it), the auxiliary verb is is used. What can be attributed to it? Anything that is not animate. These include qualities or states. Like this:
It is raining now. - It's raining now
It applies to animals too. But it should never be used on people.
If you want to say whatsome action is performed daily, you will need the verb do, or does for the third person. Only in this case, it will not act as an auxiliary linking verb, but will be used as a semantic verb. For example:
I go to school every day, except Sundays. - I go to school every day except Sunday
Please note: days of the week and names of months in English are capitalized.
Rick comes to me every weekend - Rick comes to me every weekend
The ending -s has been added to the predicate. In this tense, the first form of the verb is used to express action. Only for the third person, the ending -s is added to it:
My name is Ann. I'm 24 years old. - My name is Anna. I am 24 years old
Also am, is or are is used to state the profession and where you come from:
- I'm a student. - I'm a student.
- I'm from London - I'm from London.
Building negation in the present tense
All proposals considered were in the affirmative. And how to build an interrogative form, and what auxiliary verbs to use here - does or is? To build an interrogative or negative sentence, which indicates the constancy of the action, the verb to be is used in the form do / does, depending on the number. Does is used for the third person. In other cases, use do.
When constructing an interrogative sentence, the auxiliary verb do or does is placed first beforesubject, the rest remains unchanged. If does is used, then the particle - s for the verb is not used, since it went to the auxiliary verb do:
Does Jane go to English school? - Does Jane go to an English school?
When constructing a negative sentence, the scheme looks like this. The subject comes first, then the auxiliary verb do/does, and then the negation of not. You can build a short and more detailed form of the answer:
No, she didn't. Jane did not go to English school, she learn German. - Not. Jane does not go to an English school. She is learning German
Present Continuous
Real long time - how is it? The English in speech always pay attention to the moment of action. For example, an event in the past that happened a year ago differs in time from an action that took place 20 minutes ago, and an action that has not yet been completed that was started and should end after a certain period in the future acquires a completely different meaning. Although for the Russian language it is completely indifferent whether the action ended 5 minutes ago or several years have passed since its completion. Both automatically belong to the past.
Present Continuous or Present Progressive implies an action that is happening right now. In this case, am, is or are are used in the same way as in the previous tense. Only the ending - ing is added to the first form of the verb:
What are you doing now? I'm reading magazine. - What are you doing now? I'm reading a magazine
It can be seen that whenwhen constructing a question, are, is, or am is moved to the first place, and everything else remains unchanged. When constructing a question, after the auxiliary verb, the negation is put not:
I'm not working now. I'm speaking with my wife. - I'm not working at the moment. I'm talking to my wife
Verb have/has
The verb to have, (for the third person - has) is used in English in the meaning of "to have something", "to have something". Acts as an auxiliary verb for past tenses. And since endings are very common in English - es, -ed, several other forms were formed - has and had. Agree, it sounds much simpler and more harmonious.
We hope that the proposed material helped you deal with the forms of the verb to be.