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The Monkey and a Crocodile - Animated Stories - English

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English Grammar - Class 1 - Tense

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Basics Of English Grammar - Animated Movie For Kids [HD]

So - Neither - Either

SO

SO is used to show agreement with positive statements.
SO + Auxiliary + Subject (pronoun)
The Auxiliary needs to agree with the verb tense in the original statement.
It is similar to using TOO at the end of a sentence.

Person A	Person B
I am happy.	So am I.	= I am happy too.
I'm going to Brazil in the summer.	So am I.	= I am going to Brazil too.
You look nice today.	So do you.	= you look nice too.
Stephanie has a new boyfriend.	So does Mary.	= Mary has a new one too.
We went to the concert last night.	So did I.	= I went to the concert too.
I would love a coffee right now.	So would I.	= I would love a coffee too.
He will win a prize.	So will I.	= I will win one too.
They have finished their homework.	So have I.	= I have finished too.
I can speak two languages.	So can I.	= I can speak two too.
He should study more.	So should I.	= I should study more too.
We could see the mountains.	So could we.	= We could see them too.
My brother had eaten too much.	So had I.	= I had eaten too much too.

NEITHER

Neither is used to show agreement with negative statements.
Neither + Auxiliary + Subject (pronoun)
The Auxiliary needs to agree with the verb tense in the original statement.
It is similar to using either at the end of a sentence, although Neither is more commonly used, especially in spoken English.
A: I don't understand Spanish.
B: Neither do I. (= I don't understand Spanish either.)
A: I cannot swim.
B: Neither can I. (= I can't swim either.)
Sometimes people respond Me Neither instead of Neither + Auxiliary + Subject though this is very informal spoken English.

Person A	Person B
I am not hungry.	Neither am I.	= I'm not hungry either
I'm not going to quit.	Neither am I.	= I'm not going to quit either
They don't speak French.	Neither do I.	= I don't speak French either.
Stephanie doesn't eat meat.	Neither does Mary.	= Mary doesn't eat meat either.
Mary didn't go to the party.	Neither did I.	= I didn't go either.
I wouldn't like to do his job.	Neither would I.	= I wouldn't like to do it either.
He won't stop talking.	Neither will you.	= You won't stop either.
You haven't finished your meal.	Neither have you.	= You haven't finished either.
Mike can't reach the top shelf.	Neither can I.	= I can't reach it either.
You shouldn't talk in the movie.	Neither should you.	= You shouldn't talk either.
We couldn't hear him.	Neither could we.	= We couldn't hear him either.
I hadn't seen her before.	Neither had I.	= I hadn't seen her before either.

So vs Such

The following rules explain the difference between So and Such in English.

So … that, Such … that

We use so ... that, such ... that:
a) to show a fact (usually with a result or consequence)

• Pamela Ander's feet are big.
  (Expresses a fact).
• Pamela Ander's feet are so big that she can't find shoes her size.
  (Emphasizes that you feel strongly about the size of her feet).

b) to show extreme feelings or an opinion about something

• George Bushoff is an idiot.
  (Merely a statement of fact/opinion).
• George Bushoff is such an idiot that he doesn't even know the capital of his own country.
  (Emphasizes the speaker's opinion of the intensity of George Bushoff's idiocy).

SO with adjectives and adverbs

so + adjective/adverb + that + result

• The teacher speaks so clearly that everyone can understand her.
• The sun was so strong that they got burned within 15 minutes.

SUCH + Nouns

such + a + (adjective) + singular noun + that + result
(It is common to put an adjective before the noun)

• He is such a tight person that he even reuses his servillettes.
• Christopher is such a handsome man that all the ladies want him.
• She had such a long speech that everyone stopped paying attention to her.

such + plural/uncountable noun + that + result

• She has such big feet that she has to buy special shoes.
• Woodward Restaurant has such good food that it's always full of people.

SO / SUCH in exclamations

In exclamations we drop the word 'that' and use:
i) such + noun (singular/plural)
ii) so + adjective

• You are such an idiot! (noun)
• Celebrities have such weird tastes! (noun)
• You are so stupid! (adjective)
• It's so sunny outside! (adjective)

Such-and-such

This is used to talk about a particular type of person or thing that doesn't need to be specified. It is an unstated generic placeholder.

• People from such-and-such areas tend to be wealthy.
• If you do such-and-such a job, you will become famous. 

Be going to

Positive & Negative Sentences

The positive and negative structures for Be Going To are as follows:

Positive	Negative
I am going to	I am not going to
You are going to	You are not going to
He is going to	He is not going to
She is going to	She is not going to
It is going to	It is not going to
We are going to	We are not going to
You are going to	You are not going to
They are going to	They are not going to

The structure BE GOING TO is normally used to indicate the future in English. We use this structure:
1. When we have already decided or we intend to do something in the future:

• I'm going to India next year.

2. When there are definite signs that something is going to happen:

• It's so cold! I think it is going to snow.

3. When something is about to happen:

• Get back! The bomb is going to explode.

Questions with BE GOING TO

Questions are formed by changing the order of the subject and the verb BE:

Affirmative	You	are	going to	win the race.
	Subject	BE	GOING TO
Question	Are	you	going to	win the race?
	BE	Subject	GOING TO

You are going to be sick if you eat that. (Positive sentence)
Are you going to be sick if you eat that? (Question)
We are going to take orange juice to the party. (Positive sentence)
Are we going to take orange juice to the party? (Question)

BE GOING TO in the Past Tense

When BE GOING TO is used in the past tense, it refers to something that was going to happen but in the end it did not happen.
Examples:

• I was going to call you but I lost your phone number.
• It was going to rain but suddenly the sun appeared.
• We were going to buy a new TV but then we changed our minds.
• You were going to be my bridesmaid but then you slept with my fiancée.

Gonna

Sometimes when we speak quickly, GOING TO sounds like GONNA. While it is grammatically incorrect, it is used a lot in very informal English. You will also occasionally see the word Gonna written in song titles or in song lyrics.
I'm gonna go to the beach tomorrow.
= I'm going to go to the beach tomorrow.
He's gonna bring his girlfriend to the party.
= He's going to bring his girlfriend to the party.

If you found this information about Be Going To useful, share it with others: 

Where + To Be

WHERE is a question word that is used to ask about a place or location.
(= I want to know the place, position or location)
The following table shows you the word order of questions with Where when it is used with To Be.

Where	To Be	Subject	Example Answers
Where	am	I ?	You're in the hospital.
Where	are	you ?	I'm at work.
Where	is	he ?	He's at home.
Where	is	she ?	She's in the store.
Where	is	it ?	It's on the table.
Where	are	we ?	You're at my new job
Where	are	you ?	We're at school.
Where	are	they ?	They're at university.

You can also ask where things or places are:

Where	To Be	Subject	Example Answers
Where	is	my book ?	It's on the table.
Where	are	my books ?	They're on the desk.

Remember: Is + singular word Are + plural word.

Other examples of Where + To Be

• Where is the Statue of Liberty? It's in New York.
• Where is the Eiffel Tower? It's in Paris.
• Where are your parents right now? They're on holiday.
• Where is your favorite restaurant? It's downtown. 

There is - There are

We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

Positive Sentences

We use there is for singular and there are for plural.

• There is one table in the classroom.
• There are three chairs in the classroom.
• There is a spider in the bath.
• There are many people at the bus stop.

Contractions

The contraction of there is is there's.

• There's a good song on the radio.
• There's only one chocolate left in the box.

You cannot contract there are.

• There are nine cats on the roof.
• There are only five weeks until Christmas.

Negative Form

The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:

• There is not a horse in the field.
• There are not eight children in the school.
• There is not a tree in the garden.
• There are not two elephants in the zoo.

The Negative contractions are:
There's not = There isn't
There are not = There aren't

There Are with ANY

When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there aren't any.

• There aren't any people at the party.
• There aren't any trees in my street.

We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:

• There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
• There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

Questions

To form a question we place is / are in front of there.
Again we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.
We also use there is / are in short answers.

• Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.
• Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.
• Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.
• Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.
• Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.

How Many with Are There

If we want to find out the number of objects that exist we use How many in the following form:
How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).

• How many dogs are there in the park?
• How many students are there in your class?
• How many countries are there in South America?
• How many Star Wars films are there? 

Question Words

The most common question words in English are the following:

WHO

WHO is only used when referring to people. (= I want to know the person)

• Who is the best football player in the world?
• Who are your best friends?
• Who is that strange guy over there?

WHERE

WHERE is used when referring to a place or location. (= I want to know the place)

• Where is the library?
• Where do you live?
• Where are my shoes?

WHEN

WHEN is used to refer to a time or an occasion. (= I want to know the time)

• When do the shops open?
• When is his birthday?
• When are we going to finish?

WHY

WHY is used to obtain an explanation or a reason. (= I want to know the reason)

• Why do we need a nanny?
• Why are they always late?
• Why does he complain all the time?

Normally the response begins with "Because..."

WHAT

WHAT is used to refer to specific information. (= I want to know the thing)

• What is your name?
• What is her favourite colour?
• What is the time?

WHICH

WHICH is used when a choice needs to be made. (= I want to know the thing between alternatives)

• Which drink did you order – the rum or the beer?
• Which day do you prefer for a meeting – today or tomorrow?
• Which is better - this one or that one?

HOW

HOW is used to describe the manner that something is done. (= I want to know the way)

• How do you cook paella?
• How does he know the answer?
• How can I learn English quickly?

With HOW there are a number of other expressions that are used in questions:

How much – refers to a quantity or a price (uncountable nouns)

• How much time do you have to finish the test?
• How much is the jacket on display in the window?
• How much money will I need?

How many – refers to a quantity (countable nouns)

• How many days are there in April?
• How many people live in this city?
• How many brothers and sister do you have?

How often – refers to frequency

• How often do you visit your grandmother?
• How often does she study?
• How often are you sick?

How far – refers to distance

• How far is the university from your house?
• How far is the bus stop from here?

Here we have a chart with cartoons showing the difference between each Question Word:

Try our interactive games to practice Question words:

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used to show possession or ownership of something. While we use them when we refer to people, it is more in the sense of relationship than ownership.
The possessive adjectives in English are as follows:

Subject	Possessive Adjective
I	My
You	Your
He	His
She	Her
It	Its
We	Our
You (pl)	Your
They	Their

The possessive adjective needs to agree with the possessor and not with the thing that is possessed.
Examples

• My car is very old.
• Her boyfriend is very friendly.
• Our dog is black.
• Their homework is on the table.

Like all adjectives in English, they are always located directly in front of the noun they refer to. (Possessive Adjective + Noun)
We do not include an S to the adjective when the noun is plural like in many other languages.
Examples:

• Our cars are expensive. (Correct)
  Ours cars are expensive. (Incorrect)

However, the verb that is used needs to be in agreement with the noun - if the noun is singular then the verb is singular; if the noun is plural then the verb is plural.
Examples:

• My pen is black. (Singular)
  My pens are black. (Plural)
• Our child is intelligent. (Singular)
  Our children are intelligent. (Plural)

Its vs. It's

Be careful not to confuse its and it's.
Its = The possessive adjective for It.
It's = a contraction of it is.

Noun + To Be + Noun

Nouns are words that name things. Some common nouns include those used for animals, countries, food, languages, cities and countries.
When we are explaining things, we use Noun + To Be + Noun:

• English is a language. (Noun + To Be + Noun)
• A chicken is a bird. (Noun + To Be + Noun)

Singular Noun + IS + Singular Noun

We use IS between the two singular nouns.

• Champagne is a drink.
• Paris is a city.
• France is a country.
• French is a language.
• Europe is a continent.

Note that we normally use an article (A / AN) before a singular noun.

Articles + Nouns

'A' or 'AN' are articles. In English we normally use articles before singular nouns.
A is used before a word that begins with a consonant. AN is used before a word that begins with a vowel.
Vowels: A, E, I, O, U. Consonants: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.
For example:

• Chile is a country. (A before consonant)
• Santiago is a city. (A before consonant)
• An apple is a fruit (A before consonant)
• A dog is an animal. (AN before vowel)
• A mosquito is an insect. (AN before vowel)
• Qantas is an airline. (AN before vowel)

Plural Noun + Are + Plural Noun

Singular Noun + IS + Singular Noun
Plural Noun + ARE + Plural Noun
Note that we do not use an article (A / AN) with a plural noun.
See our grammar notes about making 

• A dog is an animal. (singular)
• Dogs are animals. (plural)
• Spanish is a language. (singular)
• Spanish and Italian are languages. (plural)
• Cities are places. (plural)
• Countries are states. (plural) 

Plural Nouns

In general the plural of a noun is formed by adding -S to the noun.

Singular	Plural
car	cars
house	houses
book	books
bird	birds
pencil	pencils

However:
1. When the noun ends in SS, SH, CH or X, we add -ES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
kiss	kisses
wish	wishes
match	matches
box	boxes
fox	foxes

• I have a box in my bedroom.
• I have three boxes in my bedroom.

2. When the noun ends in a VOWEL + Y, we add -S to the noun.

Singular	Plural
boy	boys
holiday	holidays
key	keys
guy	guys

3. When the noun ends in a CONSONANT + Y, we remove Y and add -IES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
party	parties
lady	ladies
story	stories
nanny	nannies
city	cities

4. If the noun ends in F or FE, we remove the F/FE and add -VES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
life	lives
leaf	leaves
thief	thieves
wife	wives

5. If the noun ends in IS, we change it to ES.

Singular	Plural
analysis	analyses
basis	bases
crisis	crises

6. There are a number of nouns that don't follow these rules. They are irregular and you need to learn them individually because they don't normally have an S on the end.

Singular	Plural
man	men
woman	women
child	children
foot	feet
tooth	teeth
goose	geese
mouse	mice

• There is a child in the park.
• There are many children in the park.

7. There are some nouns in English that are the same in the singular and the plural.

Singular	Plural
fish	fish
sheep	sheep
deer	deer
moose	moose
aircraft	aircraft

• I can see a sheep in the field.
• I can see ten sheep in the field.

Sometimes you will hear the word fishes (especially in songs) though it is grammatically incorrect.

Have - Has - Go - Goes

Conjugation of Have and Go

To Have = To show possession / a quality
To Go = to show movement (travel) in a specific direction

Subject	To Have	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	have	an old bike.
he / she / it	has	a new car.

Subject	To Go	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	go	to class every day.
he / she / it	goes	to the movies on Friday.

Usually we only add 'S' to a verb when we conjugate it in the third person but notice how To Have and To Go are slightly irregular (though they still both end in S).

Have and Go in Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence in English with To Have and To Go we use Don't or Doesn't followed by Have or Go (never Has or Goes).
Affirmative: You have a pen.
Negative: You don't have a pen.
You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: He has a pencil.
Negative: He doesn't have a pencil.
When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that we don't use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in negative sentences. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

Word Order of Negative Sentences

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

Subject	don't/doesn't	To Have*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	have	cereal for lunch.
he / she / it	doesn't

Subject	don't/doesn't	To Go*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	go	to classes every day.
he / she / it	doesn't

* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Negative Sentences with Have:

• You don't have a clue.
• John doesn't have many friends.
• We don't have time for a rest.
• It doesn't have four wheels.
• They don't have the correct answers.
• She doesn't have a nice dress.

Examples of Negative Sentences with Go:

• You don't go to university.
• John doesn't go to parties.
• We don't go to work on the weekend.
• It doesn't go fast.
• They don't go to the beach.
• She doesn't go to church.

Questions with Have and Go

To make a question in English with To Have and To Go, we normally use Do or Does at the beginning of the question.
Affirmative: You have a girlfriend.
Question: Do you have a girlfriend?
You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: She has a boyfriend.
Question: Does she have a boyfriend?
When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that we don't use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in questions. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	have	a new bike?
Does	he / she / it

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	go	to school?
Does	he / she / it

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Questions with Have and Go:

• Do you have a dictionary?
• Does Mary have a dictionary?
• Do we go to all the meetings?
• Does she go to all the meetings?

Short Answers with Have and Go

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions	Short Answer (Affirmative)	Short Answer (Negative)
Do you have a car? Do you go to church?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Do I have time? Do I go to work today?	Yes, you do.	No, you don't.
Do you both have time? Do you both go to school?	Yes, we do.	No, we don't.
Do they have a car? Do they go to the pub?	Yes, they do.	No, they don't.
Does he have a car? Does he go to university?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she have a car? Does she go to the gym?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it have four wheels? Does it go slow?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't.

However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

Don't vs. Doesn't

To make a negative sentence in English we normally use Don't or Doesn't with all verbs EXCEPT To Be and Modal verbs (Can, might, should etc.).
Affirmative: You speak Spanish.
Negative: You don't speak Spanish.
You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: He speaks Spanish.
Negative: He doesn't speak Spanish.
When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the negative sentence. We will see the reason why below.

Contractions

Don't = Do not
Doesn't = Does not
I don't like fish = I do not like fish.
There is no difference in meaning though we normally use contractions in spoken English.

Word Order of Negative Sentences

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

Subject	don't/doesn't	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	have / buy eat / like etc.	cereal for breakfast
he / she / it	doesn't

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Negative Sentences with Don't and Doesn't:

• You don't speak Russian.
• John doesn't speak French.
• We don't have time for a quick drink.
• It doesn't rain much in summer.
• They don't want to come with us.
• She doesn't like meat.

Do vs. Does

To make a question in English we normally use Do or Does. It is normally put at the beginning of the question.
Affirmative: You speak Spanish.
Question: Do you speak Spanish?
You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: He speaks Spanish.
Question: Does he speak Spanish?
When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.
We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must, might, should etc.)

Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	have / buy eat / like etc.	cereal for breakfast?
Does	he / she / it

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Questions with Do and Does:

• Do you speak English?
• Does John speak French?
• Do we have time for a quick drink?
• Does it rain a lot in the South?
• Do they want to come with me?
• Does she like chocolate?

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions	Short Answer (Affirmative)	Short Answer (Negative)
Do you speak English?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Do I need a dictionary?	Yes, you do.	No, you don't.
Do you both speak English?	Yes, we do.	No, we don't.
Do they speak English?	Yes, they do.	No, they don't.
Does he speak English?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she speak English?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it have four legs?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't.

However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

Question Words with Do and Does

The order for making sentences with Questions words is the following:

Question Word	Do/Does	Subject	Verb
What	do	you	have for breakfast?
What	does	she	have for breakfast?
Where	do	you	live?
When	do	you	study?
How	do	you	spell your name?

Can - Cannot - Can't

Can is a modal verb.
Can is used to express ability or to say that something is possible.
Can is the same for all subjects. We don't add an 'S' in the third person (like other verbs)
The verb that comes after Can is in the infinitive without to:

• I can speak Spanish. (= it is possible for me to speak Spanish = I have the ability to speak Spanish)
• He can swim well.
• We can see my neighbour in the garden.
• They can play the guitar.

Negative

To form the negative we add "not" after can to form one word: cannot.
We can also contract the negative to form can't. (can't = cannot)

• I cannot play the piano. We can't go to the cinema tonight.
• She cannot speak French very well. He can't drive a car.

Questions

To from the question we change the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb.
The main verb is still in the infinitive without to.

• Where can I buy an ice-cream?
• Can I go to the party, please?
• Can you speak Japanese?
• What can we do on Saturday?

Remember that you can use short answers:

• Can I sit here please? Yes, you can.
• Can you speak Chinese? No, I can't.

Impersonal Can

Sometimes You can and Can you…? are impersonal and refer to people in general.

• You can see many stars at night from here. (= people in general can see many stars)

It doesn't necessarily refer to you but people in general.

• You can't run naked in the middle of the street.

Not necessarily saying YOU can't run naked in the middle of the street but in general it is not possible for anyone.

Can - Cannot - Can't

Can is a modal verb.
Can is used to express ability or to say that something is possible.
Can is the same for all subjects. We don't add an 'S' in the third person (like other verbs)
The verb that comes after Can is in the infinitive without to:

• I can speak Spanish. (= it is possible for me to speak Spanish = I have the ability to speak Spanish)
• He can swim well.
• We can see my neighbour in the garden.
• They can play the guitar.

Negative

To form the negative we add "not" after can to form one word: cannot.
We can also contract the negative to form can't. (can't = cannot)

• I cannot play the piano. We can't go to the cinema tonight.
• She cannot speak French very well. He can't drive a car.

Questions

To from the question we change the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb.
The main verb is still in the infinitive without to.

• Where can I buy an ice-cream?
• Can I go to the party, please?
• Can you speak Japanese?
• What can we do on Saturday?

Remember that you can use short answers:

• Can I sit here please? Yes, you can.
• Can you speak Chinese? No, I can't.

Impersonal Can

Sometimes You can and Can you…? are impersonal and refer to people in general.

• You can see many stars at night from here. (= people in general can see many stars)

It doesn't necessarily refer to you but people in general.

• You can't run naked in the middle of the street.

Not necessarily saying YOU can't run naked in the middle of the street but in general it is not possible for anyone.

Can - Cannot - Can't

Can is a modal verb.
Can is used to express ability or to say that something is possible.
Can is the same for all subjects. We don't add an 'S' in the third person (like other verbs)
The verb that comes after Can is in the infinitive without to:

• I can speak Spanish. (= it is possible for me to speak Spanish = I have the ability to speak Spanish)
• He can swim well.
• We can see my neighbour in the garden.
• They can play the guitar.

Negative

To form the negative we add "not" after can to form one word: cannot.
We can also contract the negative to form can't. (can't = cannot)

• I cannot play the piano. We can't go to the cinema tonight.
• She cannot speak French very well. He can't drive a car.

Questions

To from the question we change the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb.
The main verb is still in the infinitive without to.

• Where can I buy an ice-cream?
• Can I go to the party, please?
• Can you speak Japanese?
• What can we do on Saturday?

Remember that you can use short answers:

• Can I sit here please? Yes, you can.
• Can you speak Chinese? No, I can't.

Impersonal Can

Sometimes You can and Can you…? are impersonal and refer to people in general.

• You can see many stars at night from here. (= people in general can see many stars)

It doesn't necessarily refer to you but people in general.

• You can't run naked in the middle of the street.

Not necessarily saying YOU can't run naked in the middle of the street but in general it is not possible for anyone.

To Be - Affirmative

Subject	To Be	Examples
I	am	I am from New Zealand.
You	are	You are Chilean.
He	is	He is twenty years old.
She	is	She is a nurse.
It	is	It is a big dog.
We	are	We are intelligent.
You	are	You are students.
They	are	They are married.

To Be - Contractions

Contractions of To Be are very frequent when we are speaking.

To Be	Contraction	Examples
I am	I'm	I'm from New Zealand.
You are	You're	You're Chilean.
He is	He's	He's twenty years old.
She is	She's	She's a nurse.
It is	It's	It's a big dog.
We are	We're	We're intelligent.
You are	You're	You're students.
They are	They're	They're married.

To Be - Negative Sentences

The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb.

Subject	To Be	Examples
I	am not	I am not from Spain.
You	are not	You are not Australian.
He	is not	He is not thirty years old.
She	is not	She is not a secretary.
It	is not	It is not a small cat.
We	are not	We are not stupid.
You	are not	You are not teachers.
They	are not	They are not single.

To Be - Negative Contractions

There are two ways of forming contractions of To Be in negative sentences. One is with a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I am = I'm) OR a contraction of the verb and not (e.g. are not = aren't)

I'm not from Spain.	---	--------------*
You're not Australian.	OR	You aren't Australian.
He's not thirty years old.	OR	He isn't thirty years old.
She's not a secretary.	OR	She isn't a secretary.
It's not a small cat.	OR	It isn't a small cat.
We're not stupid.	OR	We aren't stupid.
You're not teachers.	OR	You aren't teachers.
They're not single.	OR	They aren't single.

* Notice that the only possible contraction for I am not is I'm not.

To Be - Questions

To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative	You	are	happy.
	Subject	Verb
Question	Are	you	happy?
	Verb	Subject

Affirmative	Question
I am intelligent.	Am I intelligent?
You are a student.	Are you a student?
He is a pilot.	Is he a pilot?
She is from Spain.	Is she from Spain?
It is a big house.	Is it a big house?
We are ready.	Are we ready?
You are doctors.	Are you doctors?
They are rich.	Are they rich?

To Be - Short Answers

In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.
Are you a student? - Yes, I am (a student). The last part (a student) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.

Question	Short Answers**	Short Answers
Am I intelligent?	Yes, you are.	No, you aren't.
Are you a student?	Yes, I am.	No, I am not.
Is he a pilot?	Yes, he is.	No, he isn't.
Is she from Spain?	Yes, she is.	No, she isn't.
Is it a big house?	Yes, it is.	No, it isn't.
Are we ready?	Yes, we are.	No, we aren't.
Are you doctors?	Yes, we are.	No, we aren't.
Are they rich?	Yes, they are.	No, they aren't.

** With To Be, We don't use contractions in affirmative short answers unless there is additional information after it (in which case they are no longer considered short answers).