Grammar for young learners
Eleven structures, in the order a child meets them.
Every other part of this site is built from words — 450 of them, all things you can point at. This part is built from the sentences those words go into, which is the half of a lesson a word list cannot carry.
Each structure has the pattern as it goes on a whiteboard, ten sentences a child can actually say, the mistakes you will genuinely hear, and four ways to teach it that do not involve a table of forms.
First words
The structures a child needs before they can say anything at all about themselves.
am, is, are
The first verb a child needs: naming themselves, naming a thing, saying how they feel.
From age 310 sentences
🎒have got
Owning something, and describing a body or a family — the structure that carries half of a young learner's speaking.
From age 410 sentences
💪can and can't
Ability, permission and the first polite request — one small word that unlocks three different lessons.
From age 410 sentences
🏠there is / there are
Describing a room, a picture or a scene — the structure that turns a word list into a description.
From age 510 sentences
🔢one and many (plurals)
Adding the -s, hearing the -s, and the handful of words that refuse to play along.
From age 510 sentences
🍎a and an
The two smallest words in English, and the first rule a child can own completely: an before a vowel sound.
From age 48 sentences
🧸my, your, his, her
Whose is it? The four little words that let a child claim a toy, share a crayon and introduce the whole family.
From age 48 sentences
👉this, that, these, those
Near and far, one and many — the pointing words. The whole grammar fits in an arm gesture.
From age 58 sentences
🙌Stand up! Sit down! (imperatives)
The grammar of the classroom itself: commands need no subject, no ending, no age — a three-year-old obeys English before speaking it.
From age 38 sentences
🎈Let's play! (suggestions)
One word turns a command into an invitation. Let's is how English children start every game — and how yours will too.
From age 48 sentences
🎒Anna's cat (possessive 's)
The tiny hook that hangs anything on anyone: Anna's cat, Dad's car, the dog's ball. One sound, endless sentences.
From age 58 sentences
Building sentences
Routines, opinions and describing where things are — the year speaking really starts.
present simple
What a child does every day — routines, habits and the third-person -s that takes a year to stick.
From age 610 sentences
🏃present continuous
What is happening right now — the easiest tense to demonstrate, because you can act every sentence out.
From age 510 sentences
📍in, on, under — where things are
The words that put a thing somewhere. Three to start with, and a toy box is the only material you need.
From age 410 sentences
❓what, where, who, how many
The words that start a real conversation — and the moment a lesson stops being the teacher talking.
From age 510 sentences
💛like and don't like
Opinions — the first thing a child genuinely wants to say in a new language, and the easiest to make real.
From age 410 sentences
⏪Past simple: -ed verbs
Yesterday's grammar: add -ed and any verb travels back in time. The regular half of the past, taught first because it is fair.
From age 78 sentences
🦖went, saw, ate (irregular past)
The rebels of the past tense — and, unfairly, the most useful verbs of all. Went, saw, ate, had: collect them like dinosaurs.
From age 78 sentences
🐘bigger, faster (comparatives)
An elephant is bigger than a cat — grammar children argue with. Add -er, add than, and every playground debate becomes English practice.
From age 78 sentences
🏆the biggest (superlatives)
The grammar of records and podiums: the biggest, the fastest, the best. Children are natural record-keepers — hand them the language for it.
From age 88 sentences
📅always, sometimes, never
How often? The five words that turn bare habits into honest ones — I always brush my teeth… well, usually.
From age 88 sentences
🚦must and mustn't (rules)
The grammar of rules — and children adore rules they get to announce. You must listen. You mustn't run. Instant classroom law.
From age 88 sentences
🎯me, him, her, us, them
Look at ME! The pronouns that receive the action — small words children need loudly and early, tidied into grammar later.
From age 78 sentences
🍪some and any
Some cookies, any questions? The polite fog of quantity — some for yes-sentences, any for questions and noes. Snack time is the lesson.
From age 88 sentences
🧮much, many, a lot of
How much water, how many apples — the grammar that splits the world into things you count and things you pour.
From age 88 sentences
🔮going to (future plans)
Tomorrow's grammar: I'm going to build a rocket. Plans, dreams and five-year-old ambitions, all on one pattern the class already half-knows.
From age 88 sentences
Talking about before
The first step into the past, without a single verb ending to learn.
was and were
The first step into the past — describing yesterday before ever meeting a past-tense verb ending.
From age 710 sentences
🌠will (predictions and promises)
The crystal-ball verb: it will rain, I will help you, robots will do homework. Guesses, promises and the whole future in one little word.
From age 98 sentences
🗺️Have you ever…? (present perfect)
The experience question: Have you ever seen a whale? A first, friendly door into the scariest tense — opened with stories, not timelines.
From age 108 sentences
💡should and shouldn't (advice)
The kind modal: you should sleep more, you shouldn't worry. Advice is a life skill — this is its grammar, gentle by design.
From age 98 sentences
🎒have to (what life demands)
I have to go to school, she has to feed the cat — the everyday twin of must, for duties that come from the world rather than the rule-maker.
From age 108 sentences
🦖 Irregular verbs
All 60 in three sets: an audio flip trainer, a progress checklist and a printable table.
🗂️ Topic packs that pair with this
Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.
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