English verbs that describe an action, rather than an occurrence or a state of being, are the most common kind of verbs. Unlike the other kinds of verbs, they have the common feature of always ending in the letter "s" in the present tense third person singular form:

He takes a step back.

Caption 5, David Gallo - Underwater astonishments

 Play Caption

He eats the fruit.

Caption 17, Genesis Inc. - Talkalope

 Play Caption

He (subject) takes (action verb) a step (object).
He (subject) eats (action verb) the fruit (object).

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

There are three forms of sentences where an action verb may be found: an affirmative sentence (as with the examples above); a negative sentence; and an interrogative sentence, or question.

To change the above affirmative sentences to negative sentences, add the verb "to do" and "not," the declarative form of "no."

He does not take a step.
He does not eat the fruit.

To change the affirmative form to the interrogatory form (or question), add the verb "to do" at the beginning of the sentence with a question mark at the end:

Does he take a step?
Does he eat the fruit?

So to reiterate:

Affirmative: He takes a step.
Negative: He does not take a step.
Interrogatory: Does he take a step?

Affirmative: He eats the fruit.
Negative: He does not eat the fruit.
Interrogatory: Does he eat the fruit?

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning 
Browse some videos at Yabla English and find some other examples of affirmative sentences with action verbs. Practice turning them into negative sentences with "to do" and "not", and changing them into interrogative sentences with "to do" and a question mark.

The verb "to be" is, in its infinitive form, part of one of the most famous lines in world literature:

To be, or not to be, that is the question.

—from "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

Most verbs describe action, but "to be" describes a state of being: how or what you are or how somebody is. The present tense conjugation of "to be" is: I am; he, she, or it is; you are; they are; and we are.

"To be" can describe your name and your profession:

My name is Jack Thomas. I am a finance student here.

Caption 1, An American - in London

 Play Caption

It can describe how you are feeling:

I've never been to New York before, and I am so excited to go!

Caption 16, English with Lauren - Emotions

 Play Caption

If the sentence is a negation, the word "not" appears after the verb:

I am not a lawyer.

Caption 15, English - Common Phrases

 Play Caption

In the first person singular, "I am" is often contracted to "I'm"; "he is," "she is," or "it is" to "he's," "she's," or "it's"; "you are" to "you're"; "they are" to "they're" and "we are" to "we're":

Today we're at the top of the Empire State Building.

Caption 3, English for Beginners - Letters and Numbers

 Play Caption

See how we're part of the global economy?

Caption 13, Dissolve Inc. - Generic Brand Video

 Play Caption

Further Learning 
Browse some videos at Yabla English and find some other examples of the verb "to be" used in context in real conversations.

A personal pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun representing people, animals or objects.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The first person singular pronoun "I" usually refers to yourself (or the speaker). In the plural form it is "we."

I really am passionate about this.

Caption 24, Business English - The Job Interview

 Play Caption

Well, we are very excited to have you with us!

Caption 16, Business English - Starting on a New Job

 Play Caption

The second person pronoun "you" can be singular or plural and usually refers to the person or persons you are addressing.

What will you have for lunch?

Caption 23, Caralie and Annie - Get To Know Each Other

 Play Caption

The third person pronoun refers to someone other than the person you are speaking to, and is "he" (male) or "she" (female) or "it" (object) in singular, "they" in plural:

She is elegant and we wish her luck this weekend.

Caption 32, Taylor Swift - Prom Party

 Play Caption

They thought it was a hoax.

Caption 7, Soccer World Cup - Australia

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Read the personal pronoun article in English and in your native language to help you understand the basics. Write a simple sentence in your native language for each of the personal pronouns, then translate them to English. Search for some personal pronouns on Yabla English and see some different examples of how they are used in context.

A countable noun is a common noun that has singular and plural forms and can be modified by a number.

The opposite of a common noun is called a mass noun, which does not have different singular and plural forms, nor can it be modified by a number.

As a general rule, words referring to objects and people are countable nouns, and words referring to liquids (water, juice), powders (sugar, sand), and substances (metal, wood) are mass nouns.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

When you travel you have two suitcases. Suitcases are the same as luggage, but you cannot say "two luggages" as luggage is a mass noun. When you travel you have luggage, or two pieces of luggage. Mass nouns use measure words like pieces of to make plurals.

You want to build a bookshelf so you buy eight boards made of wood. "Wood" is a mass noun, so it is incorrect to say you have "eight woods," but you can say you have eight pieces of wood.

Here is a list of some more mass nouns: advice, air, art, blood, butter, data, deodorant, equipment, evidence, food, furniture, garbage, graffiti, grass, homework, housework, information, knowledge, mathematics, meat, milk, money, music, notation, paper, pollution, progress, sand, soap, software, sugar, traffic, transportation, travel, trash, water

There are some words that are both countable nouns and mass nouns. You leave some papers on the desk, by which you mean you leave some specific documents. If you leave some paper on the desk, you mean you left a package of paper or just some paper in a general sense.

Further Learning
Search for some mass nouns on Yabla English and see how they are used in context.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

A noun is a word for a person, place, or thing that can be the subject of a verb. One of the first things you learn in a new language are nouns. Different languages have different ways to make a singular noun plural.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

In English, the most common way to make a noun plural is to add the letter s:
pen: pens
spoon: spoons
table: tables
letter: letters
window: windows

Nouns ending in tch, s (or ss), or x are often made plural with the letters es:
tax: taxes
match: matches
bus: buses
business: businesses

Some nouns ending in f replace the f with v, ending in ves:
shelf: shelves
knife: knives
self: selves
thief: thieves

Some nouns have irregular plurals:
man: men
woman: women
child: children
foot: feet
ox: oxen

Some nouns ending in y drop the y and are made plural with ies:
university: universities
baby: babies
But if the y has another vowel before it, then usually the plural is made by adding s:
boy: boys
monkey: monkeys

Nouns ending in o are irregular. Some end with s, some with es, and some work with both:
hero: heros or heroes
volcano: volcanos or volcanoes

Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms, and most of these are animals: moose, deer, fish, swine

Further Learning
This example from Yabla English has 5 different plural nouns, including two that are irregular:

We have brought a set of consulting tools

that include analyses, evaluation criteria,

business processes and governance recommendations.

Captions 9-11, Planview and Kalypso - Partner to Drive Innovation

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Try to correctly change the four nouns to their singular form and check your work to see if you converted the two irregular nouns correctly.

For even more plurals, watch the Yabla English video English with Lauren and Matt - Parts of the Human Body.