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.
