Present Simple (am/is/are, Do/Does) – Grammar Exercises for A1
You are sitting in a cafe with a new friend. You open your phone to show them some photos of your family and describe who they are, what they do, and where they live.
Read the sentences and choose the best option (A, B, or C) to complete each blank.
1 Look at this photo! This _____ my family.
(A) are
(B) is
(C) am
2 We are a big family, and we _____ very close to each other.
(A) be
(B) are
(C) is
3 My parents _____ in a small house in the countryside.
(A) lives
(B) living
(C) live
4 This is my father, John. He _____ as a mechanic.
(A) is work
(B) works
(C) work
5 My mother _____ a doctor; she is a nurse.
(A) isn’t
(B) aren’t
(C) doesn’t
6 She loves her job, so she always _____ to the hospital early.
(A) go
(B) gos
(C) goes
7 Look at this little boy. My older brother _____ two sons.
(A) haves
(B) has
(C) have
8 _____ your brother live near you?
(A) Is
(B) Do
(C) Does
9 No, he _____. He lives in London now.
(A) doesn’t
(B) isn’t
(C) don’t
10 He _____ speak French, but his wife does.
(A) doesn’t speaks
(B) doesn’t
(C) don’t
11 His children _____ to an international school in the city.
(A) goes
(B) go
(C) is go
12 They _____ very smart and can speak three languages.
(A) are
(B) is
(C) do
13 My sister and her husband _____ a restaurant downtown.
(A) owning
(B) owns
(C) own
14 What time _____ they open the restaurant every day?
(A) do
(B) are
(C) does
15 It’s a great place! Everyone in our family _____ their food.
(A) love
(B) loves
(C) is love
16 My sister is very busy, so she _____ time to relax.
(A) rarely have
(B) rarely has
(C) has rarely
17 Tell me about your family. _____ your parents strict?
(A) Do
(B) Is
(C) Are
18 Who _____ the cooking in your house?
(A) does
(B) do
(C) is do
19 My younger sister. She _____ different recipes every weekend.
(A) try
(B) tries
(C) trys
20 My brother and I _____ how to cook at all! We just eat.
(A) don’t know
(B) aren’t know
(C) doesn’t know
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 B
Explanation: The word “family” in this context is treated as a single unit (a singular noun), so we use “is”. Option A is a common mistake because students think “family” means many people. Option C is only for “I”.
2 B
Explanation: The subject is “we” (plural), so the correct “to be” verb is “are”. Option C is for singular subjects, and Option A is the unconjugated base form.
3 C
Explanation: “My parents” is plural (they), so the main verb stays in its base form: “live”. Option A is a common mistake where learners add an “s” because they see an “s” at the end of “parents”. Option B is the continuous form.
4 B
Explanation: “He” is a 3rd person singular subject, so we add “-s” to the verb: “works”. Option C is missing the “s”. Option A incorrectly combines the “to be” verb with an action verb.
5 A
Explanation: To make a negative description with a noun (“a doctor”), we use the negative “to be” verb. “My mother” (she) takes “isn’t”. Option C “doesn’t” is a common trap, but it can only be used with an action verb (like doesn’t work). Option B is for plural subjects.
6 C
Explanation: For the subject “she”, we add “-es” to verbs ending in “o” (goes). Option A is the base form. Option B is a spelling error.
7 B
Explanation: “My older brother” (he) takes the irregular 3rd person form of “have”, which is “has”. Option C is for plural subjects or I/you. Option A “haves” does not exist in English.
8 C
Explanation: “Your brother” is singular (he). To ask a Yes/No question with the action verb “live”, we use the auxiliary “Does”. Option B is for plural subjects. Option A “Is” cannot be used with the action verb “live”.
9 A
Explanation: In short answers, we match the auxiliary verb from the question (“Does your brother…”). The negative form is “doesn’t”. Option C is for I/you/we/they. Option B is wrong because the question didn’t use “Is”.
10 B
Explanation: “He” takes “doesn’t” to make a negative sentence with an action verb. Option C is for plural subjects. Option A is a common mistake: after “doesn’t”, the main verb MUST be in its base form (speak), without an “s”.
11 B
Explanation: “Children” is the plural form of “child” (they). Therefore, the verb “go” stays in its base form. Option A is a common mistake because learners sometimes forget “children” is plural. Option C is a structural error.
12 A
Explanation: “Smart” is an adjective, so we must use the “to be” verb. “They” takes “are”. Option B is for singular subjects. Option C “do” is a common error; we do not use “do” with adjectives.
13 C
Explanation: “My sister and her husband” equals “they” (plural). Therefore, the verb is “own”. Option B is a common trap because students only look at the word “husband” (singular) and mistakenly add an “s”.
14 A
Explanation: “They” requires the auxiliary verb “do” to make a question with the action verb “open”. Option B “are” is incorrect because “open” is an action verb here. Option C is for singular subjects.
15 B
Explanation: Indefinite pronouns like “everyone”, “everybody”, and “someone” are always grammatically singular. Therefore, the verb needs an “s”: “loves”. Option A is a very common mistake because “everyone” means many people in real life.
16 B
Explanation: Adverbs of frequency (like rarely, always, often) go before the main action verb. So, “rarely has” is correct. Option C has the wrong word order. Option A uses “have”, which is incorrect for the subject “she”.
17 C
Explanation: “Strict” is an adjective, so we need the “to be” verb for the question. “Your parents” is plural (they), so we use “Are”. Option A “Do” is a common mistake when students forget that adjectives require “to be”.
18 A
Explanation: When “Who” is the subject of a question, we treat it as singular (he/she). Therefore, we use “does”. Option B is a mistake students make when thinking about multiple people doing an action.
19 B
Explanation: For verbs ending in a consonant + y (try), we drop the “y” and add “-ies” for 3rd person singular (tries). Option C is the base form. Option A is a spelling mistake.
20 A
Explanation: “My brother and I” equals “we” (plural). The negative auxiliary for plural subjects is “don’t”. The main verb is “know”. Option C is a common mistake made when students only look at the word “I” or “brother” individually. Option B incorrectly mixes “to be” and an action verb.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Is vs. Are: Use is for one person (my brother is). Use are for multiple people (my parents are). Remember that “children” is plural!
- Jobs and Locations: Use action verbs like work and live. If you talk about he, she, or it (like your mom or dad), always add -s or -es (He works, She lives).
- Describing appearance or personality: Use the “to be” verb (am/is/are) + an adjective (They are tall, He is funny). Do NOT use “do/does” with adjectives.
- Having things: Use has for he/she/it (My sister has a baby). Use have for I/you/we/they (I have two brothers).
- “Everyone” is a singular word: Even though “everyone” in your family is a lot of people, English grammar treats the word as a single unit. Always use is or a verb with an -s (Everyone is happy, Everyone loves food).