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'Teaching' your 'tongue'
There are certain principles of the
English language that you'll have to teach your tongue (and
other organs of speech). These are principles that'll help
you 'describe' your ideas in English. So let's call them "principles
of description". Of course, these are elementary principles.
And you know them all. But does your tongue
know them?
Mind you, there's one thing about a language
you aren't fluent in. You may know several words and principles
in that language. But not your tongue! That's why many people
can't speak fluent English - even after years of experience
in written English. Of course, even a X-standard student would
have learnt the principles we're going to look at. But experience
has shown one thing: When they try to say more than two or
three idea units at a stretch, even post-graduates get mixed
up about these principles. And, in their confusion, they falter.
Of course, when they limit themselves to
one or two idea units, these problems may not happen. But
when they try to go beyond that and try to speak continuously,
then the trouble begins. This is not because they haven't
got the principles straight. This is because their tongues
haven't got the principles straight.
Important Principles of description
Descriptive principle 1
There are certain function words
in English that always keep company with one another. Here
they are, classed into six groups:
(a) I/We/You/They/Plural (people or things)
+ don't... (NOT "doesn't")
That is, you should only say "I don't...",
"We don't...", "You don't...", "They
don't...", "Apples don't...", etc., and not
"I doesn't...", "We doesn't...", "You
doesn't...", "They doesn't...", "Apples
doesn't...", etc.
(b) He/She/It/Singulars (A person or thing)
+ doesn't... (NOT "don't")
That is, you should only say "He doesn't...",
"She doesn't...", "It doesn't...", "An
apple doesn't...", etc., and not "He don't...",
"She don't...", "It don't...", "An
apple don't...", etc.
(c) All the words at (a) & (b) above:
I/We/You/They/Plural (people or things)/He/She/It/Singulars
(A person or thing) + didn't...
That is, you can say "I didn't...",
"We didn't...", "You didn't...", "They
didn't...", "Apples didn't...", etc., and
"He didn't...", "She didn't...", "It
didn't...", "An apple didn't...", etc.
(d) I/We/You/They/Plural (people or things)
+ have... /haven't... (NOT 'has' or 'hasn't')
That is, you should only say "I have/haven't...",
"We have/haven't...", "You have/haven't...",
"They have/haven't...", "Apples have/haven't...",
etc., and not "I has/hasn't...", "We has/hasn't...",
"You has/hasn't...", "They has/hasn't...",
"Apples has/hasn't...", etc.
(e) He/She/It/Singulars (A person or thing)
+ has... /hasn't... (NOT 'have' or 'haven't')
That is, you should only say "He has/hasn't...",
"She has/hasn't...", "It has/hasn't...",
"An apple has/hasn't...", etc., and not "He
have/haven't...", "She have/haven't...",
"It have/haven't...", "An apple have/haven't...",
etc.
(f) All the words at (d) & (e) above:
I/We/You/They/Plural (people or things)/He/She/It/Singulars
(A person or thing) + had... /hadn't...
That is, you can say "I had/hadn't...",
"We had/hadn't...", "You had/hadn't ...",
"They had/hadn't...", "Apples had/hadn't...",
etc., and "He had/hadn't...", "She had/hadn't...",
"It had/hadn't...", "An apple had/hadn't...",
etc.
Descriptive principle 2
After "didn't", you should
only use the basic form (= infinitive) of verbs, and not
past tense forms. That is, you should say:
• I didn't know. • He didn't
like it. • She didn't speak French. • It didn't
happen often. • We didn't buy things from them. •
They didn't worry about things like that. • The car
didn't start.
You shouldn't say :
• I didn't knew. • He
didn't liked it. • She didn't spoke French. •
It didn't happened often. • We didn't bought things
from them. • They didn't worried about things like
that. • The car didn't started.
The same rule applies to "doesn't"
and "don't" also. That is, you should say:
• I don't know. • He doesn't
like it. • She doesn't speak French. • It doesn't
happen often. • We don't buy things from them. •
They don't worry about things like that. • The car
doesn't start.
You shouldn't say:
• I don't knew. • He doesn't
liked it. • She doesn't spoke French. • It doesn't
happened often. • We don't bought things from them.
• They don't worried about things like that. •
The car doesn't started.
Descriptive principle 3
After "has", "hasn't",
"haven't", "had", and "hadn't",
you should only use past participles, and not past
tense forms or the basic forms (infinitive). That is, you
should say :
• I have/haven't forgotten it. •
I had/hadn't done it. • He has/hasn't seen it. •
He had/hadn't stolen it. • She has/hasn't written it
down. • She had/hadn't hidden it from them. •
We have/haven't given it to them. • We had/hadn't eaten
it. • They have/haven't spoken to her. • They
had/hadn't taken it away. • The show has/hasn't begun.
• The show had/hadn't begun.
You shouldn't say :
•
I have/haven't forgot it. • I had/hadn't did it. •
He has/hasn't saw it. • He had/hadn't stole it. •
She has/hasn't wrote it down. • She had/hadn't hid
it from them. • We have/haven't gave it to them. •
We had/hadn't ate it. • They have/haven't spoke to
her. • They had/hadn't took it away. • The show
has/hasn't began. The show had/hadn't began.
The way to teach your tongue
Now understand one thing: There is no
use in learning to repeat these principles by heart. The thing
you must do now is this: You must get your tongue to 'learn'
them. In other words, you must 'teach' your tongue.
This can only be done if you give 'training'
to your tongue. That is, you must get your tongue into the
habit of saying don't along with 'I', doesn't along with
'he', has along with 'she', etc. This can easily be done
through the following kinds of practice:
Drill 1
Look at descriptive principle no. 1
(page 5).
Say I don't
, We don't
, etc.
ALOUD.
Say He doesn't
, She doesn't
, etc. ALOUD.
Say I didn't
, We didn't
, etc. ALOUD.
Say I have
, I haven't
, etc. ALOUD.
Say He has
, He hasn't
, etc. ALOUD.
Say I had
, I hadn't
, etc. ALOUD.
NOTE: Repeat each several times. Of course,
you know these rules. Still you must carry out this
drill. Remember this: The purpose of this drill is to get
your tongue and other organs of speech to get into the habit
of associating certain words together.
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