Learn how to form and use the various tenses of the English verb "to be"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Beginner Season 1, Lesson 25 - I'm Taking That Test Tomorrow |
| Daniel: Daniel here. |
| Chihiro: Chihiro here. Beginner series, season one, lesson twenty-five. “I’m Taking that Test Tomorrow.” |
| Daniel: Hello, everyone, and welcome to EnglishClass101.com. |
| Chihiro: With us, you’ll learn to speak English with fun and effective lessons. |
| Daniel: We also provide you with cultural insights and tips you won’t find in a textbook. |
| Chihiro: In this lesson, you will learn how the “be” verb is used in different ways. |
| Daniel: This conversation takes place somewhere on the campus of Innovative University, IU. |
| Chihiro: The conversation is between Yuki and Mike, two students at IU. |
| Daniel: The speakers are friends. |
| Chihiro: Now, if you are listening on an iPod or an iTouch or iPhone... |
| Daniel: Click the center button of the iPod, or tap on the screen of an iTouch or iPhone to see the notes for the lesson while you listen. |
| Chihiro: Read along while you listen. This technique will help you remember faster. OK, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Yuki: Hey Mike! How's it going? |
| Mike: I'm all right. How 'bout you? |
| Yuki: Okay. So, are you finished with your exams yet? |
| Mike: No, not yet, I had three today and I have two more tomorrow…it's a pretty tight schedule. How about you? |
| Yuki: Well, the good news is I'm done. But the bad news is I'm worried about my art history exam. There were more dates than I expected and I couldn't remember any of them! I was unable to finish. |
| Mike: Really? I'm taking that tomorrow. I have a difficult time remembering dates too. |
| Yuki: Well, you better hit the books with those dates…that's my advice for you! What time do you finish? |
| Mike: I will finish at three o'clock p.m. Art history is my last |
| exam. |
| Yuki: We should celebrate the last day of exams tomorrow. I'll wait for you outside of the building. |
| Mike: Sounds good! I know I'll feel so much better after tomorrow! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Daniel: Sounds like it's that time of the semester again for these two! |
| Chihiro: Yes, exams! Exams are usually a stressful period for college students. Many of them are traditional classroom-type exams, however, some may be take-home exams as well. |
| Daniel: Right, and now there are also computer-based exams. This all depends on the professor teaching the course. How were exams for you, Chihiro? |
| Chihiro: Well, I had both, the traditional sit-in and the take-home exam. How about you, Daniel? |
| Daniel: I had both of those kinds too. But, I was before the era of computer exams in college. |
| Chihiro: That's because you're old. |
| Daniel: Thanks a lot, Chihiro! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chihiro: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Daniel: exam [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: examination, test to show knowledge or ability |
| Daniel: exam [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: exam [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| tight [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: not having much time |
| tight [slowly - broken down by syllable] tight [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: to expect [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to anticipate, to wish for |
| Daniel: to expect [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: to expect [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| difficult [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: hard to do, not easy |
| difficult [slowly - broken down by syllable] difficult [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: advice [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: recommendation |
| Daniel: advice [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: advice [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| to celebrate [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to observe with festivities or ceremonies |
| to celebrate [slowly - broken down by syllable] to celebrate [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: outside [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: not inside; beyond a certain boundary or line |
| Daniel: outside [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: outside [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| to remember [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to recall, to think again |
| to remember [slowly - broken down by syllable] to remember [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: schedule [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: plan for an activity or event or day; agenda |
| Daniel: schedule [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: schedule [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| to worry [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to think about problems or fears |
| to worry [slowly - broken down by syllable] to worry [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chihiro: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Daniel: The first phrase we’ll look at is, “Hit the books.” In the dialogue the advice that Yuki gives Mike is, |
| Chihiro: “You better hit the books with those dates!” |
| Daniel: This is an expression that people often use to mean “study”. So, in other words, what Yuki means is, |
| Chihiro: You better study those dates! |
| Daniel: Right. Chihiro, give us another example. |
| Chihiro: Sure, how about, “After taking a year off, Sandra decided to hit the books again”. This means that Sandra decided to study again after her year off. |
| Daniel: Sounds good. Now, let's take a look at the grammar for this lesson. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chihiro: In Beginner Series, Season 1, Lesson 4, we looked at the “be”-verb copula and the subject-verb agreement. And, in lessons 6 through 8, we looked at aspects of verbs. And in lesson 9 through 17, we looked at verb tenses. In this lesson we take another look at the forms of the present and past tenses of “be”-verbs. |
| Daniel: There are three present tense forms of “be”-verbs and two past tense forms. The three present tense forms of be are “am”, “are”, and “is”. The two past tense forms of be are “was” and “were”. The form is the same whether the “be”-verb is acting as the copula or as the auxiliary verb. See Beginner Series, Season 1, Lesson 19 for more on auxiliary verbs. |
| Chihiro: The present tense forms are decided by person and number. If we use the adjective “late”, we can make the following sentences, |
| Daniel: I am late. You are late. He is late. We are late. You (all) are late. They are late. |
| Chihiro: In these sentences, “am” is used with the 1st-person singular. “Is” is used with the third-person singular. “Are” is used with the 2nd-person singular, the 1st-person plural, the 2nd-person plural, and the 3rd-person plural. |
| Daniel: Right, now let’s take a look at some examples from the dialog. Mike says to Yuki, “I’m all right.” “I’m” is the contracted, or shortened, form of “I am”. “I” is the 1st-person singular, so “am” is the present tense “be”-verb for this sentence. |
| Chihiro: Another example from the dialogue is when Yuki tells Mike, “The good news is, I’m done”. The subject of her sentence is the good news, which is a 3rd-person singular noun. So, “is” is the present tense “be”-verb for this sentence. |
| Daniel: The next example from the dialogue is when Yuki asks Mike, “Are you finished with your exams yet?” The subject of her question is the pronoun “you”, which is a 2nd-person singular noun. So, “are” is the present tense “be”-verb for this question. |
| Chihiro: Right, “are” is also used for 1st 2nd and 3rd-person plural subjects such as “we”, “you all”, and “they”. |
| Daniel: The past tense forms are also decided by person and number, but in a different way than the present tense. Again, let’s look at the forms using the adjective “late.” |
| Chihiro: I was late. You were late. He was late. We were late. |
| You (all) were late. They were late. |
| Daniel: In these sentences, “was” is used with the |
| 1st-person singular and the 3rd-person singular. “Were” is used with all of the other subjects. |
| Chihiro: Let’s look at some examples from the dialogue. |
| Yuki tells Mike, “I was unable to finish”. The subject of her sentence is “I”, which is a 1st-person singular noun. So, “was” is the past tense “be”-verb for this sentence. |
| Daniel: Our last example from the dialog is when Yuki says to Mike, “There were more dates than I expected”. |
| The pronoun “there” points to the subject “dates,” which is a 3rd-person plural noun. So, “were” is the past tense “be”-verb for this sentence. |
Outro |
| Chihiro: For more on the meanings of the aspects and tenses, review the notes from the earlier lessons from Beginner Series, especially lessons 6-8. That just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Daniel: The voice recording tool. |
| Chihiro: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
| Daniel: Record your voice with the click of a button, and then play it back just as easily. |
| Chihiro: So you record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Daniel: Compare it to the native speakers and adjust your pronunciation |
| Chihiro: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast |
| Daniel: Goodbye, everyone. |
| Chihiro: Bye for now. |
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