Your First ESL Grammar Lesson: the Verb “To Be”

ESL grammar lessons are a hot topic. 

What do you teach first? What sequence do you follow?

Luckily, if you have downloaded my grammar teaching sequence, you will definitely enjoy the ESL grammar lesson that I am sharing with you in this blog post. 

First things first: the verb “to be”

“To be or not to be, that is the question…” – this famous soliloquy by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet really drives the existential point of the verb “to be”. 

While we are not going into any philosophical considerations of the meaning of this verb, we are going to take a look at it from the grammatical point of view.

In most languages the verb “to be” is irregular. It means that it is conjugated differently depending on who we are talking about. 

For example: 

The base form (infinitive) is “to be”

The conjugated forms are below:

I am

you/we/they are

he/she/it – is

While the first and second person singular and plural are easily learned, the third person singular is something that takes a bit longer to sink in. 

In addition, the verb “to be” is essential in expressing ourselves in terms of who we are, when, where and why we are. 

Therefore, it is  is among the first things covered in ESL grammar lessons.

Teaching the verb “to be”

I personally love grammar. 

But there are many teachers who struggle with teaching it for various reasons. Regardless of your relationship with the topic of grammar itself, there are ways to present it to your students so that it sticks. 

Teaching grammar to young ESL students is a bit different than to older ones. 

First, the younger learners take the language in more inductively, i.e. through targeted exposure in speaking, reading, and consequently, their own writing. 

The older language learners benefit from specific ESL grammar lessons that allow them to learn the grammatical rule and then apply it in their own speaking and writing practice. 

ESL grammar lesson on the verb “to be”

To help you out, I have created an ESL teaching resource that you can use with your beginning English learners whenever you need it. 

In it you will find the Google Slides presentation that you as the teacher can use to present the information to your students. You can use it in person by projecting it on the screen. Or you can use it during your online class by sharing your screen with the students. 

In addition, you will also find a separate – interactive – ESL grammar practice. It contains 12 slides of exercises that you can have the students work on throughout a period of several days. 

Head to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and grab a copy for yourself. 

I hope this grammar lesson will make your life easier and help you feel more confident. 

For more ESL beginner worksheets as well as ESL teacher support join us over at the The ESL Teaching Roadmap, a membership community created especially for middle and high school ESL teachers who work with newcomers/beginners. 

I would love to hear your feedback! What is one thing that stood out for you in this blog post? What is one thing you do to teach the verb “to be? Share in the comments below:)