To Be Present Tense

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To Be

We use to be before the followings:

1. Noun: I am a youtuber.
2. Adjective: He is famous.
3. Prepositional phrase: My mother is in the kitchen.

As you can see, youtuber is a noun. Famous is an adjective, and in the kitchen is a prepositional phrase.

To Be and Pronouns

Different pronouns  use different to be. 

Pronouns	To Be
I you he she it we they	am are is is are are

To Be and Sentence Subject

Singular subjects use is, while plural subjects use are.

Examples:

1. Kabayan is an artist. (Kabayan: singular)
2. Kabayan  and I are busy with our fans. (Kabayan and I: plural)

To Be Exercises

Fill in the blank with the correct form of the Present Tense of to be.

1. He .....a singer.
2. I .... a teacher.
3. Raul .....absent from school today.
4. The house .... expensive.
5. Jack and Jim ...best friends.
6. She and I ....sisters.
7. Mr. Budiman ...sick today.
8. Mr. Brown ...a lawyer.
9. Yani and John .....both good workers.
10. My father ....at home now.
11. The weather ....fine today.
12. They ...happy with the maid.
13. Todd ... my new friend.
14. Today ....Thursday.
15. The city .... crowded.

Answer

1. is

2. am

3. is

4. is

5. are

6. are

7. is

8. is

9. are

10. is

11. is

12. are

13. is

14. is

15. is

Download/print the exercise and the answer here.

Other Exercises

To Be Present Negative Questions

Verbs Object Bare Infinitive

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Simple

Prepositions

Linking Verbs

Going To vs Future Simple

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

Some and Any

Linking Verbs

Linking Verbs Explanation

Verbs that are immediately followed by an adjective are usually called "linking verbs". The adjective following a linking verb describes the subject of a sentence. Let's see the following examples :

1. She looks beautiful.
2. The soup tastes good.

The underlined words are linking verbs.

The Linking Verb List

The following verbs are the linking verbs.

• appear
• be (is, am are, was, were, been)
• become
• feel
• get
• grow (meaning "become")
• look
• seem
• sound
• taste
• turn ( meaning "become")

The Linking Verbs in Sentences

Let's see some more examples of linking verbs in sentences.

1. My mother is in the kitchen.
2. She looks very busy.
3. Sue has been very sad. Her father just passed away.
4. This cake tastes delicious.
5. A lot of people feel unhappy with the government.
6. My girlfriend grows more and more beautiful each day.

The underlined words are linking verbs.

Please download the linking verb exercise here.

You can also check how linking verbs are used in a song here.

Linking Verb Exercises

Exercise I

Complete the sentences with the correct linking verbs provided.

taste  looks  feel  turn  smells

1. The cake does not ... sweet.

2. The princess ... so beautiful.

3. The children ... happy.

4. The leaves ... brown.

5. The perfume ... jasmine.

Exercise II

Underline the correct word in parentheses.

1. The sofa looks (comfortable, comfortably).

2. My father always looks at any problems (careful, carefully).

3. My wife smiled (happy, happily). She seemed (happy, happily).

4. She looked (sad, sadly) when she read the message.

5. This exercise looks (easy, easily). I think everyone can do it (easy, easily).

6. The sky often grows (dark, darkly) in January and February.

7. I tasted the cake (careful, carefully) and it tasted too (sweet, sweetly).

8. The town got (quiet, quietly) as the virus spread. A lot of people stay at home (quiet, quietly).

9. Many elderly people get (sick, sickly) because of these viruses.

10. My mother always appear (beautiful, beautifully) when she goes out.

Answer

Exercise I

1. taste

2. looks

3. feel

4. turn

5. smells

Exercise II

1. The sofa looks (comfortable, comfortably).

2. My father always looks at any problems (careful, carefully).

3. My wife smiled (happy, happily). She seemed (happy, happily).

4. She looked (sad, sadly) when she read the message.

5. This exercise looks (easy, easily). I think everyone can do it (easy, easily).

6. The sky often grows (dark, darkly) in January and February.

7. I tasted the cake (careful, carefully) and it tasted too (sweet, sweetly).

8. The town got (quiet, quietly) as the virus spread. A lot of people stay at home (quiet, quietly).

9. Many elderly people get (sick, sickly) because of these viruses.

10. My mother always appears (beautiful, beautifully) when she goes out.

Other Exercises

Comparative and Superlative Adjective

To Be Present Negative Questions

To Be Present Tense

Verbs Object Bare Infinitive

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Simple

Prepositions

Going To vs Future Simple

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

Some and Any

Useful Links

Business Written Communication

Understanding English Songs in Indonesian Language

Verbs Followed By To Infinitive

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Verbs Followed By To Infinitive

Short Explanation

If the verbs below are followed by another verb, the following verb must be to +  infinitive.

1. afford
2. agree
3. appear
4. arrange
5. attempt
6. dare
7. decide
8. fail
9. forget ( It can also be followed by -ing verb with different meaning )
10. hope
11. learn
12. manage
13. offer
14. plan
15. pretend
16. promise
17. refuse
18. seem
19. tend
20. threat
21. want

Let's see the following examples :

• I decided to leave her because I saw her with another man.
• We plan to buy a house next year.
• Our supervisor tends to talk too much.
• I want to hold your hand.
• The baby learns to walk every day.

Exercise

In this exercise, you have to complete the sentences with a suitable verb.

buy         lock        give       speak       play        cook

1. The burglar got into my house. I forgot ...............the window.
2. I'd like to learn ............. Spanish.
3. I want ............. a new car.
4. We've arranged .................. football tomorrow afternoon.
5. My father promised .............. a surprising birthday present.

Answer

1. The burglar got into my house I forgot to lock the window.
2. I'd like to learn to speak Spanish.
3. I want to buy a new car.
4. We've arranged to play football tomorrow afternoon.
5. My father promised to give a surprising birthday present.

Verbs Followed By -Ing or To Infinitive

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Verbs Followed By -Ing or To Infinitive

The Same Meaning

The following verbs or expressions are usually followed by -ing or to infinitive. They have the same meaning.

• begin
• start
• intend
• continue
• love
• can't bear
• can't stand

Let's see the following examples :

1. The president began talking.  Or The president began to talk.
2. My girlfriend started crying.  Or My girlfriend started to cry.
3. I intend marrying her.   Or I intend to marry her.
4. They continued arguing about who have done the corruption. Or They continued to argue about who have done the corruption.

Different Meaning

The following verbs are usually followed by -ing or to infinitive. However, they have different meaning.

• remember
• try
• like
• forget

You remember/forget to do something before you do it.  You remember/forget doing something after you do it. 

Let's the following examples :

1. Please remember to lock the door before you leave the house while I'm away.
2. I remembered locking the door of my house but I didn't remember where I put the key. So, I couldn't enter the house.
3. Don't forget to call me when you get there.
4. My grandfather was searching for his money. He thought he lost it. In fact, he forgot spending it buying newspapers. 

You try to do something means you make an effort to do something. You try doing something means you do something as an experiment.

Let's see the following examples :

1. I wanted to watch Barca versus Real Madrid last night. I tried to keep my eyes open but I couldn't.
2. My baby kept on crying last night. I tried giving him milk but it didn't help. He continued crying.

You like to do something means you find it right  to do something. You like doing something means you enjoy doing something.

Exercise

In this exercise you have to choose the -ing or to infinitive !

1. When I was five, I remembered ( going , to go ) to Paris with my parents.
2. On the way to school, please don't forget ( posting, to post ) this letter for me.
3. She could remember ( driving, to drive ) the car before the accident happened. 

Answer

1. When I was five, I remembered going  to Paris with my parents.
2. On the way to school, please don't forget to post  this letter for me.
3. She could remember driving the car before the accident happened. 

Verbs Followed by Gerund

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Verbs Followed by Gerund

A gerund is a noun made by adding "ing" at the end of the verb. So, a gerund is a noun. But the noun is from a verb. Let's see the following examples :

Verb	Gerund
smoke  write  sing	smoking  writing  singing

The followings are the verbs that must be followed by gerund:

admit	avoid	consider	delay	deny	enjoy	fancy
involve	imagine	mind	miss	postpone	practice	regret
stop	suggest	finish	risk

Let's see the following examples :

• Stop making noise!
• Avoid eating too much fat!
• Have you finished making your bed?
• The children enjoy swimming in the pool.
• The man denied stealing the diamond.

Verbs Followed By Gerund Exercise

In this exercise you have to complete the sentences with the correct gerund !

write     make    smoke    look     read  drive

1.  She doesn't enjoy ...........letters.

2.  Stop ............ too much noise.

3.  He finally admitted ....... his car carelessly.

4.  Have you finished ........... your newspaper?

5.  Avoid .......... cigarettes.  It's not good for your lungs.

Exercise Key

1.  She doesn't enjoy writing letters.

2.  Stop making too much noise.

3.  He finally admitted driving his car carelessly.

4.  Have you finished  reading your newspaper?

5.  Avoid smoking cigarettes.  It's not good for your lungs.

Verb + Preposition

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Verb + Preposition Lists

Study the list of verbs + preposition below.

apologize	to ( someone) for ( something)	When she realized she was wrong, she apologized to him for her mistake.
apply	for a job / a place at university etc.	I think this job would suit you. Why don't you apply for it?
believe	in (something)	Do you believe in ghost (= I believe that ghost exists?)
belong	to ( someone)	Who does this iPad belong to?
care	for someone / something	I need a baby sitter to care for my baby. I don't care for hot weather.
care	about someone / something. (= think someone / something is important)	Jane is very selfish. She doesn't care about other people.
collide	with ( someone / something )	There was an accident last night. A truck collided with a car.
complain	( to someone) about ( someone/ something )	They complained to the manager of the restaurant about the waiter.
concentrate	on ( something )	Don't dream. Concentrate on your work !
consist	of ( something )	The world consists of hundreds of countries.
crash / drive / bump / run	into ( someone / something )	He lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a wall.
depend	on ( someone / something )	How much money will you need? I don't know. It depends on the number of clothes you want.
die	of ( an illness )	What did he die of? Lung cancer.
dream	of ( being something / doing something ) (=imagine)	I sometimes dream of being a famous actress.
dream	about ( someone / something )	I often dream about you.
happen	to ( someone / something )	What happened to her father?
hear	about	Have you heard about your ex-girlfriend? She's going to get married.
hear	from ( someone ) (=receive a call / letter from someone )	I've never heard from Bill anymore. Maybe he has a new girlfriend.
hear	from ( someone ) (=receive a call / letter ) from someone	I've never heard from Bill anymore. I'm sure he has a new girlfriend.
hear	of ( someone / something ) ( know someone/something exists	Have you heard of UFO?
laugh	at ( someone / something )	Don't laugh at the boy. He will be nervous.
listen	to ( someone / something )	Listen to the teacher. He's explaining something to us.
live	on	We just live on my low salary; 150 dollars for five people a month.
look	for ( someone / something ) (=try to find someone/something)	I'm looking for my lost book. Can you help me?
look	after ( someone/something ) (=take care of )	I don't mind looking after my parents.
look, have a look, stare, glance	at ( someone / something )	Look at my eyes. You'll see how much I love you.
pay ( someone )	for ( something )	We don't have enough money to pay for the rent. ( but pay a bill / a fare / taxes )
rely	on ( someone / something )	You can rely on Jill. She never breaks her promises.
smile	at ( someone / something )	She smiled at me.
take care	of (someone / something) (= look after)	Have a nice holiday . Take care of yourself !

Verb + Preposition Exercises

Complete the sentences with the correct preposition whenever necessary!

1. I never listen .......... what he says. He's a liar.
2. I'm looking .... my lost keys. Have you seen it anywhere?
3. Thank you for your email. It was nice to hear ......you again.
4. I had to pay ...... the damage of his car because the accident was my fault.
5. I dreamt ....... my ex-girlfriend last night. I feel I miss her so much.
6. This customer is never satisfied with our service. She complains .... everything.
7. That pen belongs .....me. Where did you find it?
8. A football team consists .......11 players.
9. "Are you going out tonight?" "It depends ....the weather."
10. A lot of people have died .... hunger in under developed countries.

Answer 

1. I never listen to what he says. He's a liar.
2. I'm looking for my lost keys. Have you seen it anywhere?
3. Thank you for your email. It was nice to hear from you again.
4. I had to pay for the damage of his car because the accident was my fault.
5. I dreamt about my ex-girlfriend last night. I feel I miss her so much.
6. This customer is never satisfied with our service. She complains .... everything.
7. That pen belongs to me. Where did you find it?
8. A football team consists of 11 players.
9. "Are you going out tonight?" "It depends on the weather."
10. A lot of people have died of hunger in under developed countries.