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Back to Basics
“Send the manager to this table immediately；” demanded the diner in the restaurant。
When the manager appeared； the diner railed； “This is the worst vanilla ice cream I’ve
ever had。”
“I’m sorry； sir；” said the manager。 “That’s not vanilla ice cream。 That’s butter
pecan。”
“Oh；” said the customer； suddenly placated。 “For butter pecan； it’s okay。”
This chapter on the basics of grammar should be read in that spirit。
“French verb changes are inaudible through the singular of the present tense。”
“The Spanish auxiliary verb ‘to have’ is completely different from the verb ‘to
have’ implying possession。”
“The Scandinavian languages； Romanian； and Albanian are among the languages
that place the definitive article after the noun。”
“Chinese has no case endings or verb inflections； and adjectives do not have to
agree with nouns。”
Do you understand all of the above； or most of it？ If so； you don’t need this chapter；
though some of it may come as a welcome refresher。 This chapter is offered as catch…up
for all of you who didn’t pay attention in English class。 Now you want to learn another
language and you realise suddenly that your teacher was right； you were wrong； and here
you are unable to understand the English you need to take command of another language。
I； like you； sat smugly through grade school English convinced that ignorance of all
those silly terms that went zipping by me would never interfere with any of my future
endeavours。 Nothing reforms the student who’s apathetic towards English like a sudden
desire to learn other languages。 I could have learned foreign languages more easily from
the outset had I sat down to learn just these bare bones I serve you now。
What follows is a rundown of some of the terms you’ll need to know to advance
easily through another language。 The synopsis may be misprioritised and incomplete； but
on the other hand it is friendly； nonjudgmental； brief； blunt； and； I hope； helpful。
NOUN
A noun is a person； place； or thing – either a tangible thing； like a block of ice or a head
of cattle or your mother in law； or an intangible thing； like a concept or an emotion。
PRONOUN
The dictionary tells us that pronouns are words that serve as substitutes for nouns。 If
that’s confusing； ignore it and let’s get right down to the pronouns。 In English they are I；
you； he； she； it； we； they； me； him； her； us； them； my； mine； your； yours； his； hers； its； our；
ours； their and theirs。
In addition； we have INTERROGATIVE pronouns （who； what； which） for asking
questions。
We also have RELATIVE pronouns （who； whose； which； that） for explaining and
describing the nouns we use。
In the sentence “Who owns that house？” the pronoun who is used in interrogative
form。 It’s asking a question。 In the sentence “The man who owns that house is nice；” the
pronoun who is used in its relative sense。 You’re not asking anybody a question； you’re
identifying the man。 “The man whose house…；” “The house； which I visited…；” and
“The house that I visited…” all demonstrate the use of relative pronouns。
VERB
A verb is an action word – to do； to go； to want； to think。 Chances are that any word that
sounds right after the word to （provided the to doesn’t mean “toward” or “in the direction
of”） is a verb。 English verbs are so consistent （unchanging）； it’s easy for the English
speaker to get overwhelmed when tackling a language whose verbs INFLECT （change
forms）； as all the Romance； the Slavic； and many other languages’ verbs do。 When we
follow a verb through all its forms （I go； you go； he goes； we go； they go； in the present
tense； past tense； future tense； etc。） we are CONJUGATING that verb。 You’ll feel less
bewildered if you stop to realise that our own English verbs inflect just enough to give
you the idea of changing forms。 The present tense； third person singular form of the
English verb （the he form） usually adds an s （I give； you give； but he gives）。
INFINITIVE
An infinitive is a verb in neutral gear。 In English the infinitive is the form we talked
about above – to go； to do； etc。 The infinitive form of the verb go is therefore to go。 That
doesn’t tell you who’s going or when he’s going or； in case he’s already gone； when he
went。 The infinitive is just hanging there； ready to express any and all of the above
possibilities when the proper INFLECTIONS； changes； are applied。
The gears that neutral infinitives can shift into involve PERSON； NUMBER； and TENSE。
We’ll tackle them in that order。
PERSON
I am FIRST PERSON。 You are SECOND PERSON。 He； she； or it is THIRD PERSON。 The fussbudget
grammarian wants to blow the whistle right here and remind us that we； you； and they are
also first； second； and third person。 Don’t rush me。 We’re getting to it。
NUMBER
Number； in English and most other languages； is either SINGULAR or PLURAL。 （In Russian
and other Slavic languages there’s a third one。 They have singular； plural； and really
plural。 Be grateful！） I； the first person； am only one individual。 Therefore I am first
person singular。 You； by yourself； are second person singular。 He； she； and it are third
person singular。
We are more than one person； therefore we are first person plural。 You； meaning two
or more of you； are second person plural。 Second person singular and second person
plural in English happen to look and sound identical。 That’s not so in all languages。 They
are third person plural。 The one English word they covers as many he’s； she’s and it’s as
anybody can possibly throw at you。 Again； not all languages are so obliging！
TENSES
Even those who didn’t pay much attention in school shouldn’t have difficulty with tenses。
I am is PRESENT tense。 （To give it its full name and rank we’d have to say I am is the
present tense； first person singular of the verb to be。）
You were is PAST tense； or； more fully； the past tense； second person singular （in this
case it could be plural too） of the verb to be。
He will be is FUTURE tense； or the future tense； third person singular of the verb to
be。
The PERFECT tense is another form of the past tense that expresses not I was but
rather I have been。 （Perfect here just means “finished。”） This tense is more important in
English than in many other languages； and more important in French than in English。
The PAST PERFECT （also called PLUPERFECT） tense is I had been。 It takes place before
the “regular” past。
The IMPERFECT （“unfinished”） tense is I was being； I was walking； I was going；
doing； etc。
The CONDITIONAL tense is I would be。
There are more tenses； and they may vary from language to language； but that’s
enough to give you the hang of what tenses are。
AUXILIARIES
As th