Beginner English Study Guide
Chapter 1 Part 1 – Nice To Meet You!
Speaking
A typical dialogue is:
Woman: Hi, I’m Sarah. What’s your name?
Man: My name’s Mark.
Woman: Nice to meet you.
Man: Nice to meet you, too.
Practice this dialogue on your own or with a friend.
Grammar
What’s the grammar in this conversation? Here we use the verb To Be, the most important verb in English.
To Be
singular –
I am
you are
she is
he is
it is
plural –
we are
you are
they are
Examples
Affirmative
I am a doctor.
Negative
I am not a doctor.
Question
Are you a doctor?
Which word is correct?
Hello. I’m/you’re Doctor Robertson.
Hello, Dr Robertson. I’m Peter.
Welcome to The Savoy Hotel
Thank you. I’m/you’re Mr Warren.
I’m/you’re in room 237, Mr Warren.
Use the verb to be for DESCRPTIONS, .e.g. She is French, it’s hot today, the food in England is not very tasty. Here’s a list of possible descriptions:
Nationality He’s Argentinian
Appearance They are not tall
Personality My father is kind
Age I’m 32 (years old)
Location Where is Jane? She’s in London at the moment.
Weather It’s cold and cloudy today.
Profession Is your sister a doctor?
Time of day/year It’s 3 o’clock. It’s summer.
Preferences My favourite music is jazz.
In all these examples, it’s not necessary to use ‘do’, e.g. NOT They do are not tall, but they are not tall. With the verb to be, ‘do’/‘don’t’ ‘does’/‘doesn’t’ are not necessary. We will talk about ‘do’ in a later section.
Grammar
To be: she, he, it
Read the following dialogue:
Person A: Who’s she?
Person B: Is she Michelle Obama?
Person A: No, she’s Oprah Winfrey
Person B: Where is she from?
Person A: She’s from the United States.
Reading
Person A: What’s your favourite series?
Person B: My favourite series is Breaking Bad.
Person A: What’s it about?
Person B: It’s about a chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime to pay for his medical bills.
Person B: That sound’s great.
Person A: Yes, it’s really exciting.
Nationalities
Countries Nationality Ending
Brazil Brazilian an
Germany German an
India Indian an
Italy Italian an
Mexico Mexican an
Russia Russian an
the USA American an
Poland Polish ish
Spain Spanish ish
the UK British ish
China Chinese ese
Japan Japanese ese
Grammar: Possessive Adjectives
Personal pronoun Possessive adjective
I my
You your
She her
He his
It its
We our
You your
They their
Example
This is Gabriel. He’s Italian. His favourite food is NOT pizza. His favourite food is sushi.
Complete the conversation with my, your, his or her.
Person A: What’s ___________ name?
Person B: ___________ name’s Phoebe.
Person A: Who’s he?
Person B: _______ name’s Bill. He’s nine.
Person A: What’s ________ favourite film?
Person B: It’s The Jungle Book. And __________ favourite song is?
Practice this conversation on your own or with a friend.
To find out more about our Beginner English Courses, click here.