To ja

এটা আমি।

Это я

Ini adalah saya

Sono io

Ako ito

यह मैं हूँ।

이게 나야

นี่คือฉัน

This is Me

Εγώ είμαι

Đây là tôi

Dyma fi

Huu ndio mimi

これが私です

Dette er meg

ဒါက ငါ့ဖြစ်တယ်။

Ово сам ја

这是我

Ini aku

Este soy yo

Das bin ich

Me voici

هذا أنا

Este sou eu

Some key features of English

For teachers and parents

Important: This page is not for children but is intended to provide some background for adults who are supporting children’s learning.

Sentence structure and verbs

I like you.


Birds eat worms.


These are simple English sentences, with the pattern: SUBJECT (I, birds), VERB (like, eat), OBJECT (you, worms).


Of course, there are more complicated sentences. A special challenge for learners of English is the use of extra verbs (auxiliary verbs) – to be (am, are, is, etc), to do (do, does, etc) and to have (have, has, etc). At introductory level, the important one of these is to do, because it is used in affirmative (Yes, I do eat noodles), sentences (No, I don’t eat noodles), negative sentences, and questions (Do you eat noodles?). 





Changing verbs

Verbs change to indicate WHEN something happens, and whether it is completed. That is, there are tenses, including simple past, simple present, and simple future. At introductory level, it is enough to deal only with the simple present tense.


In the present tense, English has a general habit of adding ’s’ for verbs following, she, he, and it.


                    SINGULAR            PLURAL

ONE            I like                        we like

TWO            you like                  you like

THREE        she likes                 they like

As a reminder, it’s useful to give this a name, such as third person singular, 3PS.


                    SINGULAR            PLURAL

ONE            I do                         we do

TWO            you do                   you do

THREE        he does                  they do

As a reminder, it’s useful to give this a name, such as third person singular, 3PS.


The verb to be has an extra change:

                    SINGULAR            PLURAL

ONE            I am                        we are

TWO           you are                  you are

THREE        it is                        they are

It’s not just the third person singular that is different (it is) but also the first person singular (I am).


The English language has a habit of breaking its own rules. There is a special group of verbs that don’t follow that pattern. One of these is ‘can’.


                    SINGULAR            PLURAL

ONE            I can                        we can

TWO            you can                  you can

THREE        she can                   they can










Plural nouns

Plurals generally have an added ’s’:


            SINGULAR            PLURAL

            house                    houses

            friend                     friends

            book                      books

            flower                     flowers

            bird                        birds


Sometimes, the s is pronounced as expected, as in salty sea, but quite often it becomes a z sound, as in zany zebra.


            SINGULAR            PLURAL

            person                   people

            woman                   women

            man                        men

            child                       children


There are other nouns that don’t have an ’s’ in the plural:


            SINGULAR            PLURAL

            sheep                  sheep

       

States of existence: the verb ‘to be’

Affirmative sentences:

I am an elephant. My name is Jumbo.

These are sentences about ‘states of existence’, using the verb ‘to be’.


Negative sentences:

I am not a tiger. My name is not Teresa.

For negative sentences, ‘not’ does the job.


In spoken English, these sentences are usually shortened:

I’m not a tiger. My name isn’t Teresa.


Questions:

Is she a monkey? Is her name Monica?

Compare these with the affirmative sentences:

She is a monkey. Her name is Monica.

For the question, the subject and verb change places.




Actions: the verb ‘to do’

Affirmative sentences:

I eat leaves. 

He eats leaves. 

These are sentences about actions. 


Negative sentences:

I do not eat worms. He does not eat worms.

Negative statements use the extra verb, ‘to do’, together with ‘not’. In speaking, ‘not’ is usually shortened.

I don’t eat worms. He doesn’t eat worms.


Questions:

Do they eat noodles?

Does she eat noodles?


The forgotten ‘do’:

These sentences are correct:

I do eat noodles.

She does eat noodles.

They do eat noodles.

The ‘do’ (or ‘does’) is usually dropped. It reappears, however, in negative sentences and in questions.

Personal pronouns


                I               like              you.                            You             like             me.

        SUBJECT      VERB        OBJECT                    SUBJECT      VERB       OBJECT


Here, ‘you’ doesn’t change. It’s the same whether it’s the subject or object of the sentence.


But for subject English uses ‘I’ and for object it uses ‘me’.


Likewise, ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘we’, and ‘they’, which are used as subjects of sentences, also change:

                    I               me

                    she          her

                    he            him                    She likes him.                He likes her.

                    we            us                      

                    they         them                  We like them.                They like us.







Possessive pronouns

 

             My car          is            a red car.                 The red car           is                mine.

        SUBJECT      VERB          OBJECT                     SUBJECT          VERB       OBJECT


             Your car       is              a red car.                 The red car           is                yours.

        SUBJECT      VERB          OBJECT                     SUBJECT          VERB       OBJECT

        

           Her car          is               a red car.                 The red car           is                hers.

        SUBJECT      VERB          OBJECT                     SUBJECT          VERB       OBJECT


           His car          is               a red car.                  The red car           is                his.

        SUBJECT      VERB          OBJECT                     SUBJECT          VERB       OBJECT


           Our car          is               a red car.                  The red car           is                ours.

        SUBJECT      VERB          OBJECT                     SUBJECT          VERB       OBJECT


           Their car          is             a red car.                  The red car           is              theirs.

        SUBJECT      VERB          OBJECT                     SUBJECT          VERB       OBJECT

Pronoun summary

I                   me                    my                    mine


you              you                   your                  yours


she              her                     her                   hers


he                him                    his                    his


we                us                     our                    ours


they              them                their                  theirs

Articles

an apple            a banana       


These refer to ANY apple or banana. The apple and banana have not been identified. The speaker has no particular apple or banana in mind.


the apple          the banana

There is just a particular apple or banana in mind. There can be no confusion about which apple or banana.


At first, perhaps even with no banana in sight:

I want a banana.


Later, when eating.

I like the banana.

… with love from Smilite

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