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 4Cambridge level: Pre-A1 Starters

Age: Ages 4–11
Level: Pre-A1
Skill: Grammar
Format: Teacher guide

The pattern

Saying it: I like apples
Saying no: I don't like apples
Asking: Do you like apples?
Short answer: Yes, I do. / No, I don't.

Printable worksheet Presentation (PPT)

Sentences a child can say

Tap any sentence to hear it. Every one uses words from a topic pack you already have.

Mini exercise: choose the right word

Five sentences from this page, each with a word missing. A child taps the word that fits and, once it is right, hears the whole sentence.

I blank cats.
I blank like fish.
blank you like chocolate?
She blank football.
I blank ice cream.

What you will actually hear

The mistakes that come up in every class, and what is behind each one, with a tag on those a first language makes typical.

I like apple.I like apples.

Liking a whole kind of thing takes the plural. One apple is a specific apple you are holding.

I no like fish.I don't like fish.

English builds the negative with don't, not with a bare no in front of the verb.

He don't like carrots.He doesn't like carrots.

He, she and it use doesn't. It is the same -s that catches everyone in the present simple.

Typical for Arabic and Spanish speakers

I like the apples.I like apples.

Spanish («me gustan las manzanas») and Arabic («⁧أحب التفاح⁩») put the article on a whole kind of thing. English talks about things in general with no article: I like apples.

How to teach it

1
Use real food and real preferences. A child who is pretending to like carrots is practising a lie, not a language.
2
Two columns on the board — a smile and a frown — and every child puts one card in each. That is the whole lesson.
3
"Do you like…?" is a survey. Send them round the room with a tally sheet and let the counting be the reward.
4
Favourite is worth teaching early even though it is long — children reach for it constantly and are proud of it.

Topic packs that pair with this

Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.

Food Fruits Vegetables Colours Sports

Questions teachers ask

Like, love or favourite — which order?

Like first, because the negative is where the real practice lives. Add love as an intensifier a few weeks later, and favourite when they start comparing — it needs a group to pick from.

How do I stop "I like apple"?

Only ever show a plate of many. If the flashcard has three apples on it, the plural comes out on its own — a single-apple card teaches the singular by accident.