3 Quick Grammar Fixes

http://www.engvid.com/ Have you ever said "say" when you should have said "tell"? Do you make mistakes when you use "no" and "not"? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you need to watch this grammar lesson. If you said "not" then press play right away! http://www.engvid.com/3-quick-grammar-fixes/

TRANSCRIPT

"Robin, come in." "Robin here." Hi. James, from EngVid. Sorry. Reading "Batman: Black and White". I almost wanted to say "Blackman: Black and White", but I didn't. Hi. So what am I doing today besides joking with you? Look, I want to teach a lesson today -- and already, the naysayers -- the "naysayers" are the people who say "no" before you finish. So you teachers out there that watch these lessons, I know you'll go, "Oh, well this rule isn't right because --." This isn't about that. I'm telling you now there are lessons on the video -- and actually on EngVid -- that go into greater detail and explain very well what I'm about to teach. This lesson is very specific. It's a quick way and a short way for you to remember some grammar problems which are very common among many students.
If you teach English, you know exactly what I mean. If you're a student, you know what I mean. And if you're somebody who is studying English on your own, when people look at you strangely, and then they explain to you, you know what I mean.
So this is JamesESL's 80 percent rules. Three quick rules for grammar. And the 80 percent -- who could possibility forget the best guy in the world? Because he's going to be our percent sign today. Mr. E! Okay. Mr. E is the percent sign. So it's our 80 percent rules.
What do I mean by that? There are many exceptions to everything I'm going to tell you. I'm saying this up front so you don't get confused later on. But you will be correct 80 percent of the time without thinking if you master these rules. And the exceptions -- go to the other lessons on the site, and there's a lesson for each one of these. I'm telling you. I did this because it's easier for you to read, write, and do well when you know these rules, okay?
So let's start with No. 1. Very often, students say, "I say him." And I go, "What?" "I say him, 'I go home, now.'" I go, "What?" "I say him." You can't "say" him. Remember: "Say" by itself means "single". S equals "single", right? "Single" means "one". "I say all the time." "He said to me." Right? Say and said, past form of "say". It's for "one". One person is speaking. So when you just say "say" by itself, think "single". And you'll notice I've got S and S. But then you say, "James, I want to say -- I want to say two people or more. I say him all the time." Okay. Okay. I'll help you. This is the James 80 percent rule. Say "to" him. "What?" Say "to" him. "To" indicates a subject and an object -- a person is speaking to another person. "What did you say to him?" "Oh!" See? Right? You add the magic "to", and now, you can talk to more than one person and address it. "What did he say to him?" Got it? But if you say something, "I say", "he says", "they said" -- single "say". If you want to add an object or a person you're referring to, then we say "say to". And the "to" gives you the idea of two or more. You like that? I got more.
Okay. I don't even like saying "to". It's so five-letterish. Why don't we just stick with four letters? "Tell". Think T in "tell" means "two". You know how you say "say to", two words? You can combine that and just say "tell". "I told" -- tell and told. So we'll put "told" here because it's the same thing, really. Past tense, just like "said" is here, right? "I told him." Right? Subject and object. "What did he tell you?" Subject and object. T stands for "two". So whenever you see "say" or "tell", if you have "say" and "to" -- "to" means "two", right? You like that? And "tell" -- T means "two". You keep getting this T thing, and you know it's "two" -- an object and a subject is speaking to an object. Quick and easy. Dirty, clean -- I don't care. It's yours. All right? You like that? I got more. See this sleeve? Are you looking up the sleeve? Boom.
Back to the board. Okay. No. 2: third person singular. "Hablar -- hablar en español." You know, when you say "you", you use S. "Hablas", "tienes" -- that's all the Spanish I know. You watched my other video where I say "bro"? See? I told you to look for ten. Here's one video where you've got "bro", okay? Try and find nine more. Anyway. So you think third person, like "work". Well, "it" means "one". "He" means "one". "She" means "one". S stands for "single". We're going to go back up here again. S stands for "single". I told you, it's James' 80 percent rule. One word rules them all. Or as my friends who like The Hobbit say, "And one ring shall control them all ...