Basic English the Mikie Metric Way 1

Introduction:  The eight (8) Basic English lessons will help you learn such topics as Basic Sentence Structure, Making Questions, Giving Information About Yourself, Using Pronouns Correctly and How to Tell People What You Want or Have or Need.  Exercises and Answers follow each lesson.    If you have a question about any of the lessons or about English in general, please send us an e-mail.  We answer all questions.Just for fun, visit this page: Fun With English 



Lesson 1: Learning to talk about yourself.
I = the word used to talk about myself.   I am Mr. G.  I am a man.  I am fuzzy.  I am smiling. 
am = a form of the verb "to be" used only with I.
(Note: In spoken English, "I" and "am" are often joined to form a "contraction" that looks like this in writing - "I'm" - and rhymes with words like "time" and "lime".)
I am + adjective. An adjective tells who I am, what kind of person I am, what I look like, how I feel.

I am tall.	I am awake.	I am sleepy.		I am tired.	I am hungry.	I am dirty.		I am pretty.
I am English.	I am afraid.	I am short.		I am fat.	I am thin.	I am happy.		I am smart.
I am French.	I am young.	I am rich.		I am sick.	I am healthy.	I am single.		I am quiet.
I am Italian.	I am sad.	I am old.		I am angry.	I am poor.	I am clean.		I am noisy.
I am married.	I am American.		I am unemployed.		I am confused.		I am Iraqi.

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I am + -ing verb.  This sentence tells what I am doing at this moment.  "I am writing this lesson now."

I am eating.	I am sleeping.	I am working.	I am crying.	I am walking.
I am shopping.	I am driving.	I am babysitting.	I am watching tv.	I am writing.

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I am + article + noun. Articles are little words that point out Nouns.  They tell us that there will be a Noun ahead in the sentence.   Articles are A, AN, THE.  Nouns are words that name a person, a place, a thing, an idea, a feeling or an action.  Any word we use to name something is a Noun.

THE is used to point out a definite noun, the only one of its kind, a special one.

Example: "I am the driver"  In this group, I am the only one who can drive or who is responsible for driving. 

Example: If I say "I am the doctor.", I mean that I am the only doctor here on this case or in this situation.

I am the teacher.	I am the boss.	I am the janitor.	I am the cook.	I am the driver.
I am the supervisor.	I am the mailman.	I am the doctor.	I am the president.	I am the owner.

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A and AN are used with singular nouns.  A and AN mean the same thing, but they are used in different situations.  AN is used before words that begin with a Vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u) .  A is used before words that begin with a consonant sound (all the other letters). This is to make it easier to pronounce the Article and the Noun together.   A and AN refer to one of a group of similar things - not a special one or a particular one, just one of them.

Example: "I am a driver."  There are other drivers; I am just one of them.

Example:   If I say "I am a doctor.", I mean that I am not the only doctor;  I am just one of them, a member of the medical profession.

I am a salesman.	I am a boxer.	I am a gambler.	I am a mother.	I am a Muslim.
I am an organ-player.	I am an undertaker.	I am an ice skater.	I am an angel.	I am an elephant.

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A,  AN and THE must come before the noun they point out, but there can be other describing words between them and the Noun.  Remember, use A before words beginning with a consonant (a boy, a dog) and AN before words beginning with a vowel (an ugly boy, an old dog).

I am the only doctor.	I am the school janitor.	I am the main man.	I am the boy's father.
I am a good doctor.	I am a careful janitor.	I am a tall man.	I am a young father.
I am an awful doctor.	I am an honest janitor.	I am an old man.	I am an angry father.

With these models, you can say just about anything you want about yourself.   

I am + Adjective.

I am + Article + Noun.

I am + -ing Verb.

Exercise A: Use words from the box below to complete the following sentences.

good, carpenter, happy, mechanic, dirty, eating, singer, driver, single, married, horse, pizza, diving,  funny, doctor, unemployed, tall, old, sick, honest, teacher, woman, battleship, choking, proud, cook, running, decent

1. I am ____________________________.	4. I am _____________________________.
2. I am ____________________________.	5. I am _____________________________.
3. I am ____________________________.	6. I am _____________________________.

Exercise B: Use words from the box above to complete the following sentences.

1. I am a ____________________________.	5. I am an _________________________________.
2. I am the _____________________________.	6. I am the _________________________________.
3. I am a ______________________________.	7. I am a ___________________________________.
4. I am an ______________________________.	8. I am the _________________________________.

Posted in: Grammer , Learning English