A1

Placement test A1
A course for beginner English students learning English as a foreign language. Learn some basic vocabulary and some simple verb forms, and soon you will be able to talk about different subjects in the past, present, and future.

Before you start…
learn about sentences
learn some words
learn the numbers

Sentences

In English, sentences usually have the form

Subject + Verb + Object or other information

The man walks in the park.

Cats eat mice.

I like chocolate.

I am tall.

He is hungry.

Plural nouns

Most nouns make the plural form with „s“

Table —-> Tables
Chair —-> Chairs
Dog —-> Dogs
Cat —-> Cats

Some nouns add „es“

Watch —-> Watches
Match —-> Matches

And some nouns have irregular plural forms

Man —-> Men
Woman —-> Women
Child —-> Children
Person —-> People

Make sure you know these nouns:

house car

dog park

cat road

person table

man chair

woman window

food door

drink money

Numbers

1 one
2 two
3 three
4 four
5 five
6 six
7 seven
8 eight
9 nine
10 ten
11 eleven
12 twelve
13 thirteen
14 fourteen
15 fifteen
16 sixteen
17 seventeen
18 eighteen
19 nineteen
20 twenty
21 twenty-one
22 twenty-two
29 twenty-nine
30 thirty
31 thirty-one
38 thirty-eight
39 thirty-nine
40 forty
50 fifty
60 sixty
70 seventy
80 eighty
90 ninety
100 one hundred

1. Introductions
introduce yourself
learn the verb „be“
learn some basic words
Introduce yourself in English

Read the conversation

Important language. Answer the questions about you.

What’s your name? My name is ………..

How old are you? I’m …………

Where are you from? I’m from ………..

Next:
Check the grammar, expand your vocabulary, and learn some useful phrases.

A summary of the verb „be“

I am = I’m
You are = You’re
He/She/It is = He’s / She’s / It’s
We are = We’re
You are = You’re
They are = They’re

When we speak, we usually use the contracted form with pronouns (I, You, He, etc.).

Put the correct form of „be“ in the following sentences.

I ____ 35 years old.

He ____ from Canada.

That house _____ big.

The cathedral _____ interesting.

You ______ from Ukraine.

They ______ from Russia.

We ______ from England.

Articles

When we say what something is, we usually need to use the „indefinite article“, a or an.

Use a before consonant sounds, and an before vowel sounds:

It’s a mouse.

It’s an elephant.

He’s a pilot.

He’s an astronaut.

She’s a nurse.

She’s a student.

Put the correct article in the following sentences.

He is ___ teacher.

This is ____ egg.

She is _____ opera singer.

I am _____ engineer.

This is ____ museum.

You are _____ tourist.

Learn some English nouns

Use the verb „be“ to say what things are:

Look up these words in a dictionary:

table, chair, bed

pencil, phone, bag, purse, suitcase

piano, organ, violin

hotel, room, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living room, garden

church, cathedral, park, museum, bridge

Learn some English adjectives

Use the verb „be“ to describe things:

Colour:
It’s red. It’s yellow. It’s green.
It’s blue. It’s white. It’s black.
It’s orange. It’s purple.

Size:

It’s big.

It’s small.

Weather:
It’s hot today.
It’s sunny.
It’s dry.

It’s cold today.
It’s windy.
It’s wet.

Other descriptions:

It’s tasty.

It’s interesting.

She’s beautiful.

2. What do you do?
read about different people
learn the „present simple“
talk about your job
talk about food
tell the time

Jobs and Everyday Life

This is Ken. He is a farmer. Every day he gets up at 6 o’clock. He has breakfast, and then he starts work.
He drives a tractor in his fields. At 12 o’clock he has lunch and feeds the animals.
He works every afternoon until 5 o’clock, and then he has dinner. His wife always cooks dinner. In the evening, he watches TV, and he goes to bed at 11 o’clock.

This is Sandra. She is a teacher. She works from 9 am to 4 pm every day. She gets up at 7 o’clock and makes breakfast for her two children. Then she takes them to nursery and drives to work. She doesn’t have time for breakfast. She teaches maths and physics.
In the evening she goes home and cooks the dinner. She sometimes visits friends or goes for a walk in the park. She goes to the gym three times a week. At the weekend she takes her children to the swimming pool.

This is me. I am a pilot. Every day I fly from Paris to a different city. I get up very early at 5 o’clock. I don’t have breakfast at home. I take a taxi to the airport, and I have breakfast there. Then I start work at 7 o’clock. I like my job because I travel all over the world.

Next:
Check the grammar, expand your vocabulary, and learn some useful phrases.

Present Simple

We use present simple verbs to talk about things we do regularly (always, every day, usually, often, sometimes, never).
We also use present simple verbs for things which are generally true.

You can see that the only changes are for He / She / It (3rd person singular). We add s or es to the verb.
In all other cases, the verb form is the same as the infinitive.

Note: We add es in the 3rd person singular for verbs ending in -ch, -ss, -sh, etc:

I teach English —– She teaches maths
You watch TV —– He watches TV
We cross the road —– He crosses the road

Now try the exercise.

Put the verb (in brackets) into the correct form.

I _____ (go) to school every day.

He ______ (like) chocolate.

We _______ (not watch) TV in the morning.

They _______ (not have) a car.

She _______ (not study) on Sundays.

____ you ______ (work) on Saturdays?

_____ he ______ (eat) meat?

Every morning I _______ (get up) at 8 o’clock.

Telling the Time

In English, there are two ways to say what time it is.

The easy way is to read the numbers from a digital clock:

11:27 What time is it? It’s eleven twenty-seven.
09:38 What’s the time? It’s nine thirty-eight.
14:05 What time is it? It’s fourteen ‘oh’ five.

Another way is to use a traditional clock and traditional words.

In this clock you can see all the words you need.
„Past“ means „after the hour“, and „to“ means „before the hour“. Look at the examples below:

Vocabulary builder
Jobs

Translate these words into your own language. Use a dictionary if you need to.
pilot
farmer
teacher
scientist
engineer
taxi driver
police officer
lawyer
childminder
footballer
singer
actor / actress

Answer the questions about you.

What do you do? (= What’s your job?)
I’m a(n) ____________

Do you like it?
Yes, I do / No, I don’t

What time do you get up?
I get up at _____________

Do you cook?
Yes, I do / No, I don’t

What do you usually have for breakfast?
For breakfast I usually have __________