How to Learn Any Language 37
How to Learn Any Language 37
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 the name suggests, auxiliaries are words that help you accomplish something. In English, the verb to have serves as the auxiliary that helps us form the perfect tenses (I have been, I had been). The verb to be serves as the auxiliary that helps us form the imperfect tense (I was going).