Grammar

Present continuous tense  I’ m talking to my students about communication.  I have a Facebook account.  I don’t go on Facebook every day.  1. Don't overuse the present simple and the present continuous. Make sure not to miss out the verb be when using the present continuous, e.g.  I watching a good TV programme .  (Correct form = I’m watching a good TV programme.) 2. There are some verbs we don’t usually use in the continuous form, e.g. think   (What do you think about the problem?),  know (Do you know Sandy in Class 7?). However, some of these verbs can be used in the continuous form when they have certain meanings, e.g.  Wait a moment, I’m thinking . 3. Other verbs are commonly used in both the simple and continuous, but with different meanings:  I have a big house near Paris. ( state )  I’ m having dinner at the moment – I’ll call you back later. ( action )  This applies to other continuous tenses as well as the present. 

Present simple tense   e.g. I go to a restaurant with my friends.  I get up early.  I play tennis. 1. Frequency adverbs generally go before the main verb, but they go after the verb be:  I usually get up at 7.30. BUT I am often late. Students often make mistakes with this, e.g.  I often am late.  Also note that the adverb sometimes can also go at the beginning or end of a sentence, e.g.  Sometimes I go shopping on Saturdays.  I go shopping on Saturdays sometimes .  REVIEW 1: Add -s or -es where necessary.  SNAKES  (1) Snakes eat all sorts of things. (2) Eggs are a favorite food of many snakes. (3) When a snake eat an egg, the snake first curl around the egg. (4) It don't want the egg to roll away. (5) Then the snake open its mouth and move the egg into its throat. (6) It squeeze the egg with muscles in its neck. (7) The egg break and go into the snake's stomach. (8) Then the snake spit out the eggshell. (9) Snakes love to eat eggs. 

Verb be part 2 REVIEW 1: Correct the mistakes. 1. Mr. Lee have a brown coat.  2. They are n't here today.  3. This books are expensive.  4. Cuba is a island.  5. Florida and Korea is peninsula.  REVIEW 2: Choose the best answer. 1. Tina: ___________that?   Jim: That's Paul Carter.  A. Who's     B. What's     C. Where's  2. That is _________. A. a mistakes       B. mistakes    C. a mistake  3. Paul: ________in your class?   Eric: No.  A. Mr.Kim      B. Is Mr. Kim.     C. Mr. Kim is he 4. Yoko: __________these?     Gina: My art books. I'm taking an art history course this semester.  A. What is      B. Who are      C. What are  5. Tom: Are you hungry?  Sue: Yes, ______ A. I'm        B. I'm not       C. I am   REVIEW 3: Complete the sentences with am, is, or are. Use not if necessary.  1. Lemons _____ vegetables.  2. A lemon ______ a kind of fruit.  3. I _____ from the United States. 

Verb be or verb to be Common student mistakes with be positive and negative: 1. common errors include: missing be out altogether, particularly before adjectives, e.g.  Russia very big. (Correct form = Russia is very big.)  2. the second clause of a sentence, e.g.  This is a small town and the people very friendly. (Correct form = This is a small town and the people are very friendly.) 3. confusing the forms am/are/is, e.g.  Here is the answers. (Correct form = Here are the answers to the homework.)  4. confusion with colours as students often try to include the word colour and may miss out be, e.g.  It a blue colour. (Correct form = It’s blue.) 5. Students may also have problems with word order, e.g.  They all are from Germany. (Correct form = They are all from Germany.) 6. using of capitals and apostrophes in the contracted forms, e.g.  Hes Spanish and i’m Brazilian. (Correct form = He’s Spanish and I’m Brazilian.)  7. using ha