‘Do’ questions are questions that use the word ‘do’ at the start.

Like ‘be’ questions, they come in two forms:
– yes/no questions (without a question word)
– requests for details (with a question word)

2. Yes/no questions

Yes/no questions are made by placing the word ‘do’ before an S.V.O. structure.

The structure can use any verb except ‘be’ (‘be’ structures make ‘be’ questions).

3. Conjugating verbs

Verbs must conjugate with their subject
This means you need to add ‘s’ to verbs with ‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’.

Because ‘do’ is the first verb in this structure, it takes the ‘s’. Therefore the questions are
‘Does he…?’,
‘Does she….?’
‘Does it…?’

4. Examples of yes/no questions

5. Requests for detail

By adding question words, yes/no questions change into requests for details.

Question words include: what, when, why, where, who, how
+ variants of what (what time, what size, what day)
+ variants of how (how much, how many, how long)

6. Examples of requests for details

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Conjunctions are words that link clauses together (clauses = different parts of a sentence).

Some common conjunctions:

2. How to use conjunctions

Long sentences are built by putting pieces together. These individual pieces are clauses.
Conjunctions work like the glue to stick the clauses together.

Clause 1: I like ice cream.
Clause 2: It is delicious.
Together with conjunction: I like ice cream because it is delicious.

Clause 1: Mary went to the restaurant.
Clause 2: She ordered a hamburger.
Clause 3: She did not like it.
Together with conjunctions: Mary went to the restaurant and ordered a hamburger but she did not like it.

*Note: If the subject is the same across two clauses, there is no need to repeat it.
Example: ‘Mary went to the restaurant and ordered a hamburger’
not ‘Mary went to the restaurant and Mary ordered a hamburger’.

3. Examples of sentences using conjunctions

4. How many conjunctions should you use?

Sentences with too many conjunctions look ugly and become confusing.

Generally, one conjunction (two clauses) or two conjunctions (three clauses) is fine, three conjunctions (four clauses) is long, and four conjunctions (five clauses) is too many.

*Note: Using punctuation, such as a comma, can help make long sentences easier to read.

5. Test yourself

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S.V.O. = subject + verb + object

S.V.O. is the most common sentence pattern in English.

2. What are subjects, verbs, and objects?

A subject does something.
example: The man kicked the ball.

A verb is what is done, sometimes called a doing word.
example: The man kicked the ball.

An object has something done to it.
example: The man kicked the ball.

3. Subject pronouns and object pronouns

When the subject is I, you, he, she, it, we, or they, we use the subject pronoun.
However, when these are the object, they change to the object pronoun.

Other nouns can be subjects or objects, such as ‘cat’, ‘house’, or ‘pen’.

4. Verbs are important

There are thousands of verbs, including: be, go, like, say, write, kiss, walk, eat…
Verbs tell us what the subject is doing.

Verbs also tell us when the subject did it. This is because verbs change for the past, present, and future (for example: ate (past); eat (present); will eat (future).

5. Examples of S.V.O. sentences

6. Test yourself

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A determiner is a word that tells us which thing.

2. What are the determiners?

There are different types of determiners:
Articles (general vs. specific one): a, an, the
Demonstratives (which one): this, that, these, those
Possessive determiners (whose one): my, your, his, her, its, our, your
Quantifiers (how many): all, many, some, few, no

However, the basic idea remains: one word to tell people which thing.

3. Examples of determiners

4. Test yourself

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The present tense is used to describe things that are true:

a) things that are true now
b) things that are always or generally true
c) schedules
d) opinions

2. How do you make the present tense?

To make the present tense:

subject + verb (in present simple form)
*objects, times etc. can be added if needed

The present simple form must conjugate with the subject. This means adding an ‘s’ when using ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’:

I/you/it/we/they + verb (no s)
He/she/it + verb (+ s)

3. Examples of present simple verb forms

no s

+ s

*Note: ‘be’ is a special verb that uses ‘am’/ ‘is’ / ‘are’

4. Examples of the present simple tense

5. Test yourself

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‘Verb conjugation’ simply means a verb’s end must match the subject.

2. How to do verb conjugation in the present simple tense

When using the present simple tense, conjugating verbs means:

– ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, or ‘they’ = no extra ending
– ‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’ = +s

One exception is the verb ‘be’, where different subjects use different words.

*Note: if a verb ends in o, x, ch, sh. or th, then ‘es’ is usually added

3. Examples of conjugated verbs in the present simple tense

4. Test yourself

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The present continuous is used for things happening (and continuing to happen) now.

*Note: The present continuous is also sometimes used for future plans, as it is easier than the future tense.

2. How to make the present continuous tense

The present continuous tense is made by:
subject + be + …ing verb

‘Be’ changes to match the subject.

3. Examples of the present continuous tense

4. Comparing the present tense and the present continuous tense

The present tense is for things that are true, schedules, or opinions.
The present continuous tense is for things happening now, or as a quick way to say future plans.

‘Be’ questions are questions that use the verb ‘be’.

They come in two forms:
– yes/no questions (without a question word)
– requests for details (with a question word)

2. Yes/no questions

Yes/no questions can be made by ‘inverting’ the subject and ‘be’ part of sentences.

3. Examples of yes/no questions

4. Requests for details

By adding question words, yes/no questions change into requests for details.

Question words include: what, when, why, where, who, how
+ variants of what (what time, what size, what day)
+ variants of how (how much, how many, how long)

5. Examples of request for details

6. Test yourself

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A singular is a word that tells us there is only one.
A plural is a word that tells us there are more than one.

For example:
star is singular (there is only one star)
stars is plural (there are more than one star)

2. Different types of plurals

Most plurals are made by adding ‘s’ to the singular.
However, not all plurals are like this.

‘s’ plurals

‘es’ plurals

Nouns ending in ‘o’, ‘s’, ‘ch’, ‘th’, ‘sh’ or ‘x’ usually use ‘es’ for plurals:

However, this is not always true (for example, 1 path and 2 paths).

‘ves’ plurals

Nouns that end in one ‘f’ (or have ‘f’ as the last sound) often change the ‘f’ to ‘v’, then add ‘es’:

Again, this is not always true (for example: 1 reef, 2 reefs).

Unusual plurals

Some nouns in English have unusual plurals:

Unfortunately there is not an easy way to learn these; usually English speakers learn through experience.

No change plurals

There are some plurals (most often animals) that are the same as the singular:

3. Uncountable nouns are different

Singulars tell us there is one. Plurals tell us there are more than one.
But some nouns cannot be counted.
These uncountable nouns do not need plurals.

Advanced note:
If talking about food, we usually don’t count it if it is generally on a plate, or generally served.
Example: I have some pizza (pizza is general, and uncountable)

However, we do count it (1, 2, 3 etc.) if the food makes different meals on different plates.
Example: We bought two pizzas. (the pizzas are clearly separate)

4. Test yourself

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Possessives are words that tell us who owns a thing.

This is my money!
It is not your money.

There are different types of possessives:
– ‘add s’ possessives
– possessive determiners
– possessive pronouns

2. Adding ‘s’

For normal nouns, an ‘s’ can be added to tell us something belongs to it.

If the noun is singular (only one), an apostrophe goes before the s.
If the noun is plural (more than one), it usually already has an s. The apostrophe goes after the s.

3. Examples of ‘s’ possessives

4. Possessive determiners

Possessive determiners are words that tell us who owns a thing.
They are based on subject pronouns.

5. Examples of possessive determiners

6. Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are words that tell us a thing belongs to someone.

While possessive determiners go with the noun (for example: this is my book), possessive pronouns go with the verb (for example: this book is mine).

7. Possessive pronoun sentence patterns

Possessive pronouns can be the subject or the object in a sentence.

The most common patterns are:

• noun + verb + possessive pronoun
• possessive pronoun + be + adjective/noun
• possessive pronoun + verb + determiner

8. Test yourself

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