Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Verb Tensenses - The Simple Present Tense With "BE"

The verb 'BE' = am / is / are.

It is conjugated as follow:

A. Affirmative Form( Dang khang dinh):
  1. I am ---- In short form( dang viet tat) : I ' m
  2. You are ----//---- You ' re
    We are ----//---- We ' re
    They are ----//---- They ' re
  3. She is ----//---- She ' s
    He is ----//----- He ' s
    It is ----//---- It ' s

Example:

  • I am his math teacher.
  • You are a doctor.
  • We are students in English class.
  • They are farmers from Vietnam.
  • She is a wise girl.
  • He is a naughty boy in my class.

B. Negative Form(Dang phu dinh):

Add "NOT" after AM / IS / ARE to make the Negative sentence.
Them NOT sau AM / IS / ARE de thanh lap cau phu dinh.

Short Forms:

I AM NOT <--------> I'M NOT
*Chu y: Ban KHONG viet ngan I'M NOT thanh I AMN'T

IS NOT <--------> ISN'T

ARE NOT <-------> AREN'T

For Example:

He is a naughty boy in my class(khang dinh) ------> He is NOT a naughty boy in my class(phu dinh)

C. Question Form( Dang cau hoi):

  1. Yes-No Question:( Dang cau hoi bat buoc ban phai tra loi "Yes" hoac " No"

    The Verb "BE" is at the beginning of the sentence:

    Are you Mr. Brown? Ong co phai la ong Brown?
    Yes, I am<---------> No, I'm not.
    Is she your English teacher? Co ay la giao vien tieng Anh cua ban a?
  2. WH-question:( Dang cau hoi bat dau bang tu de hoi)
    Tieng Anh co mot so tu dung de hoi khi ban khai thac thong tin ve van de, su viec gi do.
    Tu de hoi trong tieng Anh: Where (o dau), When (khi nao).....

    Where is Tom? Tom dang o dau.
    He's in the bathroom. Anh ay dang trong nha tam.

    When is your birthday? Sinh cua ban vao ngay nao?
    My birthday is on May 15. Sinh nhat cua toi vao ngay 15 thang 05.

* Chu y: Trong tieng Anh, tu de hoi nhu "Where", "When"... dung dau cau cau hoi

Chuc ban co mot ngay that vui ve. Neu ban co thac mac, dong gop y kien....Hay click vao "comment' o cuoi moi bai doc, dat cau hoi, hoac dong gop y kien. Chung toi se sang san giai dap thac mac cua cac ban, cung nhu rat tran trong nhung Y kien quy bau cua cac ban.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

PRONUNCIATION OF FINAL -S:/z/ AND /s/

Cach Phat Am cua duoi -s : /z/ va /s/

I. Am huu thanh (Voiced):

/b/ as in 'rub' am /b/ nhu trong chu 'rub'
/d/ as in 'ride' am /d/ nhu trong chu 'ride'
/v/ as in 'drive' am /v/ nhu trong chu 'drive'

Some sounds are "voiced". You use your voice box to make voiced sounds. For example, the sound /b/ comes from your voice box. The final sounds in (I) are voiced.

Mot so am la "huu thanh". Ban dung thang quan cua ban de tao am huu thanh. Vi du am /b/ phat tu thanh quan cua ban. Am cuoi trong (I) la am huu thanh.

II. Am vo thanh (Voiceless)

/p/ as in 'sleep' am /p/ nhu trong chu 'sleep'
/t/ as in 'write' am /t/ nhu trong chu 'write'
/f/ as in 'laugh' am /f/ nhu trong chu 'laugh'


Some sounds are "voiceless". You don't use your voice box. You push air through your teeth and lips. For example, the sound /p/ comes from air through your lips. The final sounds in (II) are voiceless.

Mot so am la "vo thanh". Ban khong dung thanh quan cua ban. Ban day hoi qua rang va moi cua ban. Vi du, am /p/ phat tu hoi qua moi cua ban. Am cuoi trong (II) la vo thanh.

III. Cach Phat am cua duoi - s:

  1. rubs = rub/z/
    rides = ride/z/
    drives = drive/z/
  2. sleeps = sleep/s/
    writes = write/s/
    laughs = laugh/s/
Final - s is pronounced /z/ after voiced sounds, as in (1.)
Duoi -s duoc phat am /z/ sau cac am huu thanh, nhu trong (1.)

Final -s is pronounced /s/ after voiceless sounds, as in (2.)
Duoi -s duoc phat am /s/ sau cac am vo thanh, nhu trong (2.)

All comment are welcomed. Please leave your comment at the end of this post.

Tat ca moi dong gop y kien, thac mac cua cac ban deu duoc giai dap. Cac hay dat cau hoi hoac dong gop y kien trong phan comment o cuoi bai viet nay.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Verb Tensenses - The Simple Present Tense.

In order to speak or write English, we need to know the rules of making sentences. You are new to English, or you have been learning it for long time, The grammar is aways along with you.

In this Post I would like to share with you the Simple Present tense.

The Simple Present Tense, in general, expresses events or situations that exist always, usually, habitually; they exist now, have existed in the past, and probably will exist in the future.

Example:

It snows in Alaska.
I watch television every day
The Usage:
  1. The simple present says that something was true in the past, is true in the present, and will be true in the future.It is used for general statement of fact

    Example:

    Water consists fo hydrogen and oxygen.
    Most animals kill only for food.
    The world is round
  2. The simple present is used to express habitual or everyday activity.

    Example:

    I study for two hours every night.
    My classes begin at nine
    He always eats a sandwich for lunch.
  3. Certain verbs are not used in the progressive(continuous) tense. With these verbs, the simple present may indicate a situation that exists right now, at the moment of speaking.

    Example:

    I have only a dollar right now.
    I don't regconize that man.
    He needs a pen right now.

Nonprogressive Verbs:

Some verbs are nonprogressive verbs: they are not used in any of the progressive tenses. These verbs describe states (i.e., conditions that exists); they don't describe activities that are in progress. ex. Ali knows this grammar.

Common Nonprogressive Verbs:

  1. MENTEL STATE:
    know - realise - understand - recognize - believe - feel - suppose - think* - imagine - doubt - remember - forget - want - need - prefer - mean
  2. EMOTIONAL STATE:
    love - like - appreciate - hate - dislike - fear - envy - mind - care
  3. POSSESSION
    possess - have* - own - belong
  4. SENSE PERCEPTIONS:
    taste* - smell* - hear - feel* - see*
  5. OTHER EXISTING STATE:
    seem - look* - appear* - cost - owe - weigh* - be* - exist - consist of - contain - include

* Verbs with asterisk are also commonly used as progressive verbs, with a difference in meaning, as in the following examples:

Nonprogressive (existing state) Progressive (Activity in progress)

think I think he is a kind man. I am thinking about this grammar.

have He has a car. I am having trouble. She is having a good time

taste This food tastes good. The chef is tasting the sauce.

smell These flowers smell good. Don is smelling the roses.

see I seea butterfly. Do you see it? The doctor is seeing a patient.

feel The cat's fur feels soft Sue is feeling the cat's fur.

look She looks cold. I'll lend her my coat. I am looking out the window.

appear He appears to be asleep. The actor is appearing on the stage.

weigh A piano is heavy. It weighs a lot The grocer is weighing the bananas.

be I am hungry Tom is being foolish**

** Compare

  1. Bob is foolish = foolishness is one of Bob's usual characteristics.
  2. Tom is being foolish = Right now, at the moment of speaking, Tom is doing something that the speaker considers foolish.

    The verb be(+ an adjective) is used in the progressive to describe a temporary characteristic. Very few adjectives are used with be in the progressive; some of the most common are : fooling, nice, kind, lazy, careful, patient, silly, rude, polite, impolite.

Subject and Verb Agreements.

In Simple Present tense, The subject and verb agreement will be as following:

Structure: Subject+ verb(-S/ES)

For the pronouns: I- You- We- They + Verb(ex: like)

Example: I/you/we/they like this this book.

For the pronouns: She- He - It

Example: She/He/It likes this book.

Verb+ ES: Cac dong tu tan cung bang: -sh, -ch,- ss, -x, - o as in verb Push, Watch, Miss, Fix, Go khi theo sau Subject She/He/It se them +ES

Have/Has : I/you/we/they have
She/He/It has

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