lesson 1: Talking about yourself

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.

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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.