Englishfor English speakers
it's
Contraction
—
The contraction of "it is".
Bring you coat. It's raining.
"Where's the book?" "It's on the teacher's desk."
"What's that?" "This? It's just a piece of paper."
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The contraction of "it has".
It's been a long time since I've had cake.
be
Verb
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This verb tells us that a thing is present, or in a place.
The book is on the table.
There was someone in the room.
Were you at the party?
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Happen
The party was on Saturday.
The next meeting will be here.
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Go somewhere; visit someone (only in the present perfect tense)
I've never been to Disneyland.
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A verb we use when describing.
The book is blue.
They were sad about losing the match.
John is 35 years old this year.
Im fine.
He'd like to be a doctor.
The film was terrible!
The book is 5 euro.
—
Act like someone or something
Look, Mummy! I'm being a dog! Woof, woof!
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We use a form of be and a gerund-participle to make progressive verb forms.
He is sitting on the chair.
I've been waiting for half an hour.
They will be leaving on Tuesday.
a
Determinative
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A is used when the following word could be any of a certain type.
Compare "A book I saw on the shelf" and "The book I gave you yesterday".
a
Noun
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A is the first letter of the alphabet.
The letter "a" comes before "b".
—
In some schools, an A is a very high grade.
Ron got an A on his earth science test.
long
Adjective
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If something is long, it takes a lot of time.
At 3 hours and 24 minutes, it's a very long movie.
That was a long time ago, when I was a child.
How long is it until we have our trip?
He was often quiet for long periods of time.
—
If something is long, it has a large distance from end to end.
It belonged to a woman in her thirties with long brown hair.
The paper was about 20 cm long and 12 cm wide.
You can hear it across long distances.
She wore a long gray skirt with a black jacket.
long
Adverb
—
If something takes long, it takes a lot of time.
We had dinner together not so long ago.
I do not know how long I was standing there.
She left home long before I did.
I could not go on any longer.
Those days are so long gone.
This change is long overdue.
long
Verb
—
If you long for something, you wish for or really want it.
Carol still longs for David to come back to her even though she knows he has a new wife.
time
Noun
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Time is what we measure with a clock.
"What time do you finish work?" "At four o'clock (4:00)."
I don't have time to talk to you right now. Can we do it later?
—
If you do something one time, you do it once.
time
Verb
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If you time something, you measure how long it takes in seconds, minutes, hours, etc.
Take out your watch and time yourself during the test.