Basic English

How to talk about yoursel

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.