Verb “To Be” – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Your classmate is thinking about buying a new computer, a smartphone, or registering for some new school subjects. You need to give them advice! You will evaluate the properties of these things (are they hard, easy, expensive, or cheap?) to tell your friend what they should or shouldn’t do.
Choose the best option to complete each sentence.
1 Don’t buy that computer! It ______ very expensive.
(a) is
(b) has
(c) are
2 You should take the music class instead. The math classes ______ very hard.
(a) is
(b) are
(c) have
3 I don’t like this phone. It ______ too big for my pocket.
(a) are
(b) is
(c) has
4 Look at those headphones. They ______ really cheap! You should get them.
(a) are
(b) is
(c) do
5 Do not take Professor Smith’s class. He ______ very strict with his students.
(a) has
(b) are
(c) is
6 “Should I buy these running shoes?” “No, they ______ comfortable at all.”
(a) don’t
(b) isn’t
(c) aren’t
7 I want to learn Japanese, but I heard it ______ easy.
(a) isn’t
(b) doesn’t
(c) aren’t
8 The laptop and the tablet ______ both great, but I think you should buy the laptop.
(a) is
(b) are
(c) have
9 “______ the final science project difficult?” “Yes, you need a lot of time for it.”
(a) Does
(b) Are
(c) Is
10 Don’t buy that old camera. The battery ______ very good.
(a) isn’t
(b) doesn’t
(c) aren’t
11 “______ these books useful for the history exam?” “Yes, you must read them.”
(a) Are
(b) Is
(c) Do
12 I think history and geography ______ very interesting subjects. You should choose them!
(a) is
(b) be
(c) are
13 You should buy this jacket. It is warm, and it ______ too expensive.
(a) doesn’t
(b) isn’t
(c) aren’t
14 “What do you think about the new smartwatches?” “I think they ______ amazing!”
(a) are
(b) is
(c) have
15 Do not buy computers from that shop. The software on them ______ very slow.
(a) are
(b) is
(c) has
16 Everyone in the school ______ afraid of the physics exam because it is so hard!
(a) are
(b) is
(c) have
17 I don’t recommend this gym. The equipment here ______ very old and dangerous.
(a) are
(b) has
(c) is
18 Nobody ______ happy with the new school schedule. It is terrible!
(a) is
(b) are
(c) does
19 The information in this book ______ very helpful for your essay. You should buy it.
(a) are
(b) has
(c) is
20 The design of these new phones ______ beautiful, but the cameras ______ really bad.
(a) are / is
(b) is / are
(c) is / is
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (a) is
- Why it’s correct: “It” (the computer) is a singular subject, which takes “is”. We use “To Be” with adjectives like “expensive”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “has” is a common translation mistake. A computer doesn’t “have” expensive; it is expensive. (c) “are” is for plural subjects.
2 (b) are
- Why it’s correct: “The math classes” is a plural subject, taking “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “is” is for singular subjects. (c) “have” is the translation trap.
3 (b) is
- Why it’s correct: “It” (the phone) takes “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “are” is for plural subjects. (c) “has” is the translation trap.
4 (a) are
- Why it’s correct: “They” (the headphones) is a plural subject, taking “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “is” is for singular subjects. (c) “do” is for action verbs, but “cheap” is an adjective.
5 (c) is
- Why it’s correct: “He” takes “is”. We use “is” with personality adjectives like “strict”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “has” is the translation trap. (b) “are” is for plural subjects.
6 (c) aren’t
- Why it’s correct: “They” (the shoes) takes the negative “are not” (aren’t) to describe a negative quality (not comfortable).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “don’t” is used with action verbs. (b) “isn’t” is for singular subjects.
7 (a) isn’t
- Why it’s correct: “It” (Japanese) takes “isn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “doesn’t” is for action verbs. (c) “aren’t” is for plural subjects.
8 (b) are
- Why it’s correct: “The laptop and the tablet” is a plural compound subject (they = two items). It requires “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “is” fails to recognize that there are two items. (c) “have” is the translation trap.
9 (c) Is
- Why it’s correct: “The final science project” is a singular subject. To ask a Yes/No question with an adjective (difficult), we start with “Is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “Does” is for action verbs. (b) “Are” is for plural subjects.
10 (a) isn’t
- Why it’s correct: “The battery” is singular, taking the negative “isn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “doesn’t” is for action verbs. (c) “aren’t” is for plural subjects.
11 (a) Are
- Why it’s correct: “These books” is plural, so the question must start with “Are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “Is” is for singular subjects. (c) “Do” is for action verbs.
12 (c) are
- Why it’s correct: “History and geography” form a plural subject (they), taking “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “is” fails to recognize the two subjects. (b) “be” is unconjugated.
13 (b) isn’t
- Why it’s correct: “It” takes “isn’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “doesn’t” is for action verbs. (c) “aren’t” is for plural subjects.
14 (a) are
- Why it’s correct: “They” (the smartwatches) is a plural subject, taking “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “is” is for singular subjects. (c) “have” is the translation trap.
15 (b) is
- Why it’s correct: In English, “software” is an uncountable noun. It is always treated as singular and takes “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “are” is a trap because learners often think of software as many programs. (c) “has” is the translation trap.
16 (b) is
- Why it’s correct: The pronoun “Everyone” is grammatically singular. It must take “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “are” is a common trap for learners who think “everyone” means a plural group. (c) “have” is the translation trap.
17 (c) is
- Why it’s correct: The word “equipment” is an uncountable noun in English. It always takes “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “are” is a mistake because learners think of equipment as many different tools. (b) “has” is the translation trap.
18 (a) is
- Why it’s correct: Just like “everyone”, the pronoun “Nobody” acts as a singular subject and takes “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) “are” is for plural subjects. (c) “does” is for action verbs.
19 (c) is
- Why it’s correct: “Information” is an uncountable noun in English. It is always singular and takes “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) “are” is a mistake because students often think of information as multiple facts. (b) “has” is the translation trap.
20 (b) is / are
- Why it’s correct: The first subject is “The design” (singular), taking “is”. The second subject is “the cameras” (plural), taking “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) incorrectly uses “are” for the singular “design”. (c) incorrectly uses “is” for the plural “cameras”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Evaluating with “To Be”: When you want to describe the qualities of an object or a class to give advice (e.g., hard, easy, expensive, cheap, fast, slow, good, bad), you MUST use the Verb “To Be”.
- Do not use “have” or “has” to describe these properties.
- ❌ The computer has expensive.
- ✅ The computer is expensive.
2 Questions and Negatives with Adjectives: Never use “do/does/don’t/doesn’t” before an adjective.
- ❌ Does the class hard? → ✅ Is the class hard?
- ❌ The phones don’t cheap. → ✅ The phones aren’t cheap.
3 Tricky Uncountable Nouns: Some nouns in English represent a group of things but are always singular (uncountable). You must use “is” with them. Memorize these four common ones:
- Software (The software is slow.)
- Equipment (The equipment is old.)
- Information (The information is good.)
- Furniture (The furniture is expensive.)
4 “Everyone” and “Nobody”: Even though these words talk about groups of people, they are treated as singular subjects. Always use “is” (e.g., Everyone is afraid).