Exercises

Exercise 1. Put the verb “to be” into the Present Simple Tense.

1. He … a student. He … a good student.

2. His father … a doctor.

3. My mother … not a teacher.

4. They … at home now.

5. … they at school? – No, they … not at school.

6. … your father a pilot? – Yes, he … .

7. Nick … not a student. He … a pupil. He … at school now.

8. … your parents at home? – No, they … not.

9. I … a pupil, I … not a student.

10. … his friends at school now? – No, they … in the garden.

Exercise 2. Put the verb “to be” into the Past Simple Tense.

1. He … a pupil last year.

2. She … not a doctor, she … a teacher.

3. They … workers.

4. He … ill last week. He … not at work.

5. We … at home on Sunday.

6. The weather … not cold yesterday. It … fine.

7. … he at school yesterday? No, he … not. He … ill.

8. … they students last year? No, they … pupils.

9. She … not at home.

10. She … in the country.

Exercise 3. Put the verb “to be” into the Future Simple Tense.

1. He … a student next year.

2. I … at home tomorrow.

3. … you … at home Sunday?

4. She … not … at work on Saturday.

5. Where … you … in two days?

6. We … not … in the country.

7. My brother … not ill now.

8. I … not … in Kyiev. I … in London.

9. All my family … at home tomorrow.

10. Nick … ill last month.

Exercise 4. Put the verb “to be” into the Present, Past or Future Simple Tense.

1. … she … at work tomorrow? – Yes, she … .

2. … you at school yesterday? – Yes, I … .

3. My sister … at school now. She … not at home.

4. … you … a teacher in some years?

5. We … pupils last year, but now we … students.

6. My brother … not ill now.

7. I … not in Moscow now. I … in Oryol.

8. All my family … at home tomorrow.

9. Nick … ill last month.

Exercise 5. Choose the right variant.

1. … he busy yesterday?

1. is b) were c) was

2. The flats in this new house … comfortable.

1. are b) will c) were

3. I could not come to see you. I … out of town.

1. were b) are c) was

4. All the students … present at the lecture yesterday.

1. are b) were c) is

5. These texts … difficult and those texts … easy.

1. was b) are c) are not

6. Next year he … here, now he works in Moscow.

1. was b) is c) will be

7. He … tired now, don’t speak to him.

1. is b) shall be c) were

8. … they in the theatre yesterday?

1. are b) were c) is

9. The weather … good today.

1. is not b) are not c) was not

Exercise 6. Define the function of the verb “to be”.

1. notional,

2. link verb,

3. modal,

4. auxiliary.

1. It’s six o’clock. He is at home at this time. 2. She is too young to understand it. 3. The whole country is going on strike. 4. The new film is to be on at our cinema next week. 5. He is taking his English exam now. 6. The football match will be shown on TV.7. It was a nasty day. It was raining cats and dogs. 8. Sentence 5 is on page 15. 9. Sunday is my day off. 10. My mother was 40 yesterday.

Оборот “there + to be”

Оборот there + to be употребляется для того, чтобы подчеркнуть наличие или отсутствие какого-либо предмета или предметов, лиц. В русском языке для этого используются предложения, начинающиеся с обстоятельств места:

В Орле нет оперного театра.

There is no opera theatre in Oryel.

Выбор формы глагола “to be” зависит от числа следующего за ним существительного:

In the middle of the room there is a round table.

Round the table there are several chairs.

Сокращенная форма there’s употребляется в разговорной речи.

Вопросительная форма с оборотом there + to be образуется по инверсии:

There is a table … Is there a table …?

There are several chairs … Are there several chairs …?

Отрицательная форма образуется при помощи отрицательной частицы not, Если перед существительным стоят слова many, much

There are not many students at the lesson.

В остальных случаях употребляется частица no:

There are no books on the shelf.