WELCOME... THIS IS MONTCADA IN ENGLISH!!! VERB TO BE, PART 1

Hello everybody!!! Welcome to this brand new experience called Montcada in English!!! First of all I would like to thank Montcada Radio and Phimister's Language School for all the support to this wonderful project. In fact, the name of this blog comes from the eponymous radio show, which is broadcasted every single Monday from 19:30 to 20:00 in Montcada Radio. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I would like to start this very first post with the most common verb in English Language: VERB TO BE!!!

SUBJECT PRONOUN + VERB TO BE + COMPLEMENT

The verb to be is one of the most common verbs, not only in its use but is probably the most studied verb (considering that a lot of people start to study English and then they give up). Back to the explanation, verb to be has many different forms and meanings.

In Spanish means SER or ESTAR and we conjugate the verb in this way:

I am ------------------------------ Yo soy/estoy

You are -------------------------- Tu eres/estás   Ustedes/Vosotros son/sois están/estáis

He is ----------------------------- Él es/está

She is ---------------------------- Ella es/está

It is ------------------------------- Él/Ella/Ello/La/Lo/Le es/está

We are --------------------------- Nosotros somos/estamos

They are ------------------------- Ellos son/están

When we use the verb to be as ser, is because we are talking about names, professions, nationalities, etc.

For example:

I am Martin  ---------------- (Yo) soy Martin

You are American --------- (Tu) eres Americano

He is a doctor -------------- (Él) es un doctor

She is Karen ---------------- (Ella) es Karen

It is my dog ----------------- (Él) es mi perro

We are teachers ------------ (Nosotros) somos maestros

They are British ------------ (Ellos) son Británicos

When we use the verb to be as estar, is because we are talking about actions or locations.

For example:

I am here -------------------- (Yo) estoy aquí

You are in Catalonia ------ (Tu) estás en Cataluña

He is sleeping -------------- (Él) está durmiendo

She is in my house -------- (Ella) está en mi casa

It is raining ----------------- Está lloviendo

We are eating -------------- (Nosotros) estamos comiendo

They are in the mall ------ (Ellos) están en el centro comercial

Because of its highly irregular forms, the verb to be can be used also in specific situations such as expressing sensations or when we want to talk about our age, giving to the verb a completly different meaning.

If I say: I am 20 years old it doesn’t mean that soy 20 años or estoy 20 años. It means tengo 20 años.

In other particular situations, it can be translated as HACER.

For example:

It is hot --------------------- Hace calor

For negative sentences we have to add not between the verb and the complement

S.P. + VERB TO BE + NOT + COMPLEMENT

For example:

I am not in your house

You are not eating

He is not American

She is not British

It is not snowing

We are not students

They are sleeping

Is quite common in English grammar contract words. Normally this contractions are used in spoken English but no in written (at least in formal writing). We contract verb to be sentences in this way:

I am sleeping - I'm sleeping

I am not Chuck - I'm not Chuck

You are my friend - You're my friend

You are not studying - You're not studying / You aren't studying

She is ill - She's ill

He is not working at the moment - He's not working / He isn't working at the moment...

And so on.

So people, as far as I am concerned, I am done! I hope this information can be useful for all of you!

C Ya!!!