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Jan 4th, 2007, 08:49 am
| | eslHQ Addict | | Join Date: Mar 27th, 2005 Location: Japan
Posts: 1,086
| | Is am are OR Am are is I alway think of be as 'is am are' (possibly American) but for teaching purposes to match the standard
I
You
He/She
should we teach it as 'am are is' or what I'm used to 'is am are'
What do you naturally say and what do you teach? | 
Jan 4th, 2007, 11:55 am
|  | Clive Hawkins | | Join Date: Aug 1st, 2006 Location: Italy
Posts: 432
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is Happy new Year to you.
I always go for am are is personally. It would be confusing otherwise, or not? | 
Jan 4th, 2007, 05:23 pm
| | Sue | | Join Date: Oct 8th, 2006 Location: Milan
Posts: 422
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is I always teach am is are.
My students are Italian and have 3 different ways of saying what in English translates as you : tu (informal, singular) lei (formal, singular, actually 3rd person - she) and voi (plural). I want them to understand that the tu equivalent (thou) no longer exists, the 3rd person option has no relevance to English and that you is actually the old 2nd person singular (ye), now used for both singular and plural, formal and informal. But grammatically it remains plural and this is why the verb are is used, the same as for we and they. So I always tabulate the verb as :
I am
He /she / it is
We / You /They are
This works with European learners who have the sing/pl formal/informal distinctions in their own language, but I might take a different approach with learners whose own language behaved differently. | 
Jan 4th, 2007, 10:06 pm
|  | Ninja Fighting Teacher | | Join Date: Jan 16th, 2006 Location: South Korea Age: 27
Posts: 379
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is Am are is here. I always teach
I am
You are
He/she/it is
We are
You are
They are
Seems to work fine with the students. | 
Jan 5th, 2007, 12:26 am
| | eslHQ Addict | | Join Date: Mar 27th, 2005 Location: Japan
Posts: 1,086
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll stay with the standard set by
I
You
HE/She/It
and do it 'am, are, is'
the less confusion the better | 
Jan 5th, 2007, 05:44 am
|  | Administrator | | Join Date: Dec 10th, 2004 Location: Montreal Age: 33
Posts: 1,104
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is Quote: |
Quote susan53 I always teach am is are.
I am
He /she / it is
We / You /They are | I'm with Susan. That's how I teach it though I've never really given any thought to the order... 
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Jan 7th, 2007, 09:46 am
| | eslHQ Enthusiast | | Join Date: Jan 26th, 2006 Location: Athens, Greece
Posts: 46
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is I'm with Susan too. When students understand that there is no singular form of the second person and we only speak politely in the plural other things are easier to explain, like " was" (singular) and "were" plural, or why there is formal and informal English. | 
Jan 7th, 2007, 12:50 pm
|  | eslHQ Member | | Join Date: Dec 17th, 2006
Posts: 9
| | Re: Is am are OR Am are is When I teach absolute beginners I teach am and are on the first day, and is on the second day. | |
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