English For Beginners
English For Beginners
English For Beginners
PRONOUNS
Subject Pronoun Object Pronoun
I Me
You You
He Him
She Her
It It
We Us
You (plural) You
They Them
IT is normally used when we refer to objects, things, animals or ideas (and not normally people).
Sometimes when we don't know the sex of a baby (we don't know if it is a boy or girl), then we
can use IT.
Their baby is very small. It only weighs 2 kilos. (It = the baby.)
Be careful when using 'it' as an object pronoun because it is only in the correct context that it has
meaning. It needs to have already been mentioned or obvious to the listener what you are
referring to. Compare;
You are sitting on it! (The listener probably doesn't know what the speaker refers to).
The letter is on the sofa. You are sitting on it! (It is obvious in the second sentence that
the reference is to the letter)
The present progressive tense is often overused by non-native speakers of English. It should only
be used in the following contexts:
To describe an incomplete action which is in progress at the moment of speaking; usually with
time expressions such as: now, at the moment, right now.
1. (During a phone call or in an e-mail) We are discussing the project at the moment.
To describe a plan or arrangement in the near future; usually with time expressions such as:
tonight, tomorrow, this week, this Monday.
Note: A common mistake is using this form to describe what a company sells or produces. In
general, a company sells something on a regular basis, so you need to use the present simple
tense and not the present progressive.
The present progressive (continuous) is formed using am, is or are together with the ing (present
participle) form of the verb.
1. My name is Annie and I live in a very big house. _________________ twenty- three rooms in
my house, but _________________ only twelve bedrooms. I live in one of the rooms on the third
floor. In my room, _________________ a huge bed and _________________ nine windows. My
bedroom isnt small. On my bed, _________________ lots of pillows, and _________________
my cat, Fluffy. In my closet _________________ many toys, and _________________ also
many clothes. I dont have a bathroom in my bedroom, but ______________ a bathroom next to
my room. Also in my house _______________ two kitchens, a big dining room and three living
rooms. The house is really big!