Most professionals know written grammar very well, but spoken grammar can be a different story, especially for those in career fields that do not involve speaking.
However, like any challenge, spoken grammar is definitely fix-able! All you have to do is isolate grammar points and work on them.
Simple Present Third Person
We add -s to present tense verbs when in the third person–so when talking about things or people. Skipping this -s is a simple mistake that many professionals make.
Examples: Our team consists of people from different specialities. This project requires more attention. He talks about his kids all the time.
Practice the Simple Present Third Person
Think about several things you are involved with regularly. Here are a few that apply to most people: a project, your team, a weekly meeting, addressing challenges or analyzing data. (notice gerund phrases require the simple present third person).
In using “it” as your subject, you’ll typically use verbs like involves, requires, consists of or means.
| Question | Example |
| What is it? | I’ll talk about some problems I’m dealing with lately. |
| What does it involve regularly? | Dealing with these problems involves a lot of research and attention to detail. |
| What does it require sometimes? | Sometimes it requires extra focus and attention. |
| What does it never require? (or almost never) | It almost never means overtime because my manager prefers to avoid overtime. |
| How does it affect you? | Dealing with problems at work helps me develop my expertise. |
Now think of people that you know–coworkers, family members and friends. If you like animals, you can also use pets for this exercise. Choose 1 person (or pet) at a time and answer these questions using the simple present.
| Question | Example |
| 1. What is the person’s name? | My sister’s name is Jane. |
| 2. What are three things that this person does regularly? | Jane takes care of her kids and works as a nurse part-time. |
| 3. What are three things that this person does sometimes? | Sometimes, Jane goes to the park with her kids, plays tennis with friends or goes on long walks alone. |
| 4. What are three things that this person never does? | Jane never travels without her kids. She never reads paper books because she likes audio books. She never shops online if she can find something in a store. |
| 5. Usually, how does this person make you feel? | She’s a nice person. Usually she makes me feel good. Every now and then, she irritates me. |
If you tend to forget the third person in the simple present, repeat these exercises every day for a while. After working with things and people that you know, you can also use characters from a favorite tv series or just imagine project scenarios.
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