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 have instead of be, e.g.

She has 20. (Correct form = She is 20 years old.)

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