BE-VERB
In present tense, there are three
different verbs.
In past tense, there are two
different verbs.
I am
I was
You are
You were
He/She/It is
He/She/It was
We are
We were
You are
You were
They are
They were
BE-VERB
You can use be-verb with adjectives, -ing verbs, or nouns.
ADJECTIVES
Mr. Matt is nice.
The sky was beautiful last night.
-ING VERBS
He is playing basketball.
They were waiting for the bus.
NOUNS
This is a book.
Those are fireflies.
HELPING VERBS
Sometimes, you can have a word that changes the meaning of a verb.
There are called Helping Verbs. They go together with the main verb to give us
more information about the verb. A helping verb can (almost) never be alone.
HELPING VERBS
Be (am/are/is/was/were)
Will
May
Do (do/did)
Can
Might
*Have (has/have/had)
Could
Must
*Would
Should
HELPING VERBS
Helping verbs can: (1) Change the meaning of the verb, or
(2) Give us more information about the verb.
How is the meaning of each sentence below different?
I play hockey.
I am playing hockey.
I was playing hockey.
I can play hockey.
I should play hockey.
I will play hockey.
HELPING VERBS
There are three different ways to remember these helping verbs:
PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE
AM/ARE/IS + ING
— Talking about what are you doing now
WAS/WERE + ING
— Talking about what you were doing before
DO/DON’T
— Used to make questions or negatives
WILL
— Talking about the future
HELPING VERBS
There are three different ways to remember these helping verbs:
PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE
AM/ARE/IS + ING
I am playing basketball, right now.
WAS/WERE + ING
I was playing basketball at break time.
DO/DON’T
Do you play basketball?
I don’t play basketball.
WILL
I will play basketball, tomorrow.
HELPING VERBS
There are three different ways to remember these helping verbs:
ABILITY
CAN
— What you are able to do/good at
COULD
— Used as the past of “can”
(what you were able to do/good at)
— Used as the polite version of “can”
HELPING VERBS
There are three different ways to remember these helping verbs:
ABILITY
CAN
I can play basketball.
COULD
I could play basketball in high school.
Could you play basketball with me at break?
HELPING VERBS
There are three different ways to remember these helping verbs:
CHANCES (NOT 100%)
SHOULD
— What you think is the best idea to do
(but not 100% important to do it)
MIGHT
— 25% chance of doing it
MAY
— 50% chance of doing it
MUST
— 100% important that you do it!
HELPING VERBS
There are three different ways to remember these helping verbs:
CHANCES (NOT 100%)
SHOULD
I should play basketball at break time.
MIGHT
I might play basketball after I eat.
MAY
I may play basketball with my friends.
MUST
I must play basketball today in P.E. Class.
PRESENT TENSE VERBS
There are many kinds of present tense verbs, but we
are going to learn about Present Simple.
Present Simple is used to talk about a habit/routine,
something that usually happens; not what is
happening now, or only happens once.
I walk
We walk
You walk
You walk
He/She/It walks
They walk
PRESENT TENSE VERBS
For third-person, many of the rules are the same as for plurals.
-x
-s
-ch
-sh
-o
-ss
+ES
I watch
We watch
You watch
You watch
He/She/It watches
They watch
PRESENT TENSE VERBS
For third-person, many of the rules are the same as for plurals.
(consonant) + y
(strawberry)
-Y +IES
I carry
We carry
You carry
You carry
He/She/It carries
They carry
PRESENT TENSE VERBS
Don’t forget that the same rules apply to “do” when
you have a negative sentence.
But the main verb doesn’t change for any person.
I don’t walk
We don’t walk
You don’t walk
You don’t walk
He/She/It doesn’t walk
They don’t walk
FUTURE TENSE VERBS
To talk about the future you use “will” as a helping verb.
Future with “WILL”:
Mr. Matt will go to Canada.
Mr. Matt will give you homework today.
Your main verb is always unchanged.
See the difference below between present and future.
He plays baseball on Fridays.
He will play baseball on Saturday, instead.
FUTURE TENSE VERBS
“WILL” has many different forms.
Contraction (‘ll):
I think he’ll be here today.
If you’re not good, you’ll go down to Ms. Mimi.
The negative of “will” is “will not” or simply “won’t”:
Will you go to school tomorrow?
Mr. Matt won’t watch TV today, because he’s tired.
Helping verbs do not get “he/she/it, s/s/s”.
FUTURE TENSE VERBS
You can tell a future tense verb because it has “will” in
the sentence.
Which of these sentences is talking about the future?
My mom sends me messages every Sunday.
On Monday, I played basketball with my friends.
I know what I’ll do this weekend! I’ll watch TV!
PAST TENSE VERBS
The normal way to make a past tense verb is to add “ed”.
Like comparatives and superlatives, there are always exceptions,
but when you don’t know the answer, just try adding “ed”.
I walk
I walked
You play
You played
He/She/It listens
He/She/It listened
The past tense is always the same, even for “he/she/it”!
PAST TENSE VERBS
You’ve probably noticed that many rules for many things are the same.
Like how the plural and present tense rules are the same.
Here, you’ll use what you remember from plurals, and comparatives and
superlatives when adding “ed”.
When a word ends with “consonant + y” change to “i” and add “ed”.
I study English.
I studied English.
When you have “cvc” or “ccvc” (or a short vowel sound) you double the
letter and add “ed”. (Remember? Like “big”, “bigger”, “the biggest”)
He/She/It stops at the door.
He/She/It stopped at the door.
FUTURE TENSE VERBS
To make questions and negative sentences you need the
helping verb “do” in the past tense (which is “did”):
Questions (Did…?):
Did you finish your homework?
Did you eat pizza on the weekend?
Negatives (did not/didn’t):
I didn’t finish my homework.
I didn’t eat pizza on the weekend.
FUTURE TENSE VERBS
You can tell a past tense verb because it has “ed” at
the end of the main verb.
Which of these sentences is talking about the past?
I didn’t play baseball on the weekend.
I read a little of my book every day.
I’ll tell you when class is finished.
REVIEW
Here are the important things you need to remember for the exam.
BE-VERB
HELPING VERBS
Present: am, are, is
Past: was, were
1. am/is/are/was/were, do/did, will
2. can, could
3. should, may, might, must
(the main verb NEVER CHANGES)
PRESENT VERBS
FUTURE/PAST VERBS
he/she/it —> s/s/s
-x, -o, -ch, -sh, -s, -ss —> +es
-ay, -ey, -iy, -oy, -uy —> +s
(consonant) + y —> -y+ies
Future: will + main verb
Past: +ed
(same rules as plurals, present +s,
comparatives and superlatives)