Build 1000+ English Sentences With One Simple Formula

You know many English words, but when a real person asks you a question, no sentence comes out. In this episode, Paul and Emily share one simple pattern. You do not need to memorize a thousand sentences. You learn one pattern, and you can make many sentences of your own.

This page helps you learn with the episode. This episode is for A2 and B1 learners.

Watch the episode: Build 1000+ English Sentences With One Simple Formula on YouTube

Time: about 25 minutes to listen, and about 20 minutes for the practice.

Before you listen: write one simple sentence about your day, for example I drink coffee. Keep it. You will make it longer at the end.

How to use this page: listen once, read the key idea and the useful language, then do the practice. If you want to read while you listen, the full transcript is at the bottom.

What You’ll Learn

• One pattern for making your own sentences: who + do + what + one more thing
• How to add details with four easy questions: When? Where? Why? How often?
• How a time word like yesterday or last night tells you which verb form to use
• Verbs that do not need a what, like sleep, arrive, and smile
• Four common mistakes, and how to fix each one
• How to say a long sentence in small chunks
• A quiz, a role-play, and six sentences of your own

Key Idea

Say it simple. Then add one more.

A list of sentences always ends. A pattern does not. Emily copied two hundred sentences into a small green notebook before her first trip to London. Then a woman in a bakery asked a question that was not in the notebook, and Emily could not make sentence two hundred and one.

Paul’s answer: a pattern, not a list. The pattern has three main parts and one extra part.

Part	Paul’s name for it	Grammar-book name	Example
Part 1: who	the person or thing that does it	subject	I, you, my brother
Part 2: do	the action	verb	drink, cook, call
Part 3: what	the thing that gets the action	object	tea, dinner
Part 4: one more thing	a detail	detail	when, where, why, how often

Emily’s green notebook

What happened	In Emily’s words
Before her trip	She bought a small green notebook and copied two hundred full sentences from a phrasebook. It took three weeks, and she learned them by heart on the bus every morning.
In the bakery	Page twelve was all about bakeries, so she said, “Can I have a croissant, please.” The woman then said, “For here or to go.” That was not on page twelve.
The second question	Emily also wanted to ask about nuts, because her brother can’t eat nuts. That sentence was nowhere in the notebook. She stood there, her face got hot, and she pointed at a cake and smiled.
Later in the episode	Emily goes back to the bakery story and builds the sentences she needed with the pattern.

Two pictures that help you remember

• A LEGO base plate. Put three bricks on the flat board: who, do, what. That is your base. Details are extra bricks that you click on top, one more, and then another one. The base stays the same, but the building gets bigger.
• Salt in your soup. A little salt makes soup taste good. A whole jar of salt ruins it. One or two details are great. Five details in one sentence is too much.

Build One Sentence, Step by Step

Paul starts with a very short sentence and adds one detail at a time. Listen at 05:08.

Step	Sentence
Base	I drink tea.
Add when	I drink tea every evening.
Add where	I drink tea every evening on my balcony.
Add why	I drink tea every evening on my balcony because it helps me relax.

Emily’s comment: it is the same three bricks, plus three more. From one base, Paul and Emily already have four sentences.

Change One Brick

If you change one part, you get a new sentence.

Brick	What Paul and Emily change	Examples from the episode
who	the person	My brother drinks tea every evening. (notice the small s: my brother drinks, he drinks, she drinks)
do	the time of the verb	I drink tea. / I drank tea. / I will drink tea. / I’m drinking tea.
what	the thing	You drink tea, you drink water, or you drink orange juice.

A time word and the verb agree. I drank tea last night with my sister. The words yesterday, last week, and last night pull your verb into the past. Tomorrow pulls it into the future: I will call my mom tomorrow.

Some verbs do not need a what

Paul says some verbs go straight to the detail. You can say I sleep, but you do not sleep something.

• I sleep for seven hours.
• I arrive at work at eight.
• She smiles at everyone.

So the pattern is: who, do, what, and sometimes no what.

Four Questions for Details

A detail is a small piece of extra information. Paul likes four easy questions. When you want a longer sentence, ask yourself one question and add the answer.

Question	You can say
When?	in the morning, at six, on Fridays, after lunch
Where?	at home, on the bus, at the office, near the station
Why?	because I’m tired, because it’s cheap, to learn English
How often?	always, usually, sometimes, never, twice a week
Bonus: with who?	with my friends, with my dad, alone

Words like usually, never, and always go before the main verb: I usually cook, I never eat, I always forget.

Seven Sentences, Three Topics

Emily asks, “Can we try the pattern with other parts of life? Not only food.” Paul gives three topics, and each sentence uses the same pattern. Listen at 12:50.

Topic	Sentence from the episode	What Paul and Emily notice
Study and work	I study English for twenty minutes before work.	who = I, do = study, what = English, then how long and when
Study and work	Our team has a meeting every Monday at ten.	Has, not have, because our team is one group
Friends	I call my best friend every Sunday evening.	a present sentence with when
Friends	I meet my old classmates for coffee once a month.	a present sentence with how often
Friends	I visited my friend’s new flat last weekend.	Visited, because last weekend is finished
Small problems	I left my umbrella on the train this morning.	a past sentence with where and when
Small problems	I will ask the station staff after work.	a solution, with will

Paul’s summary: seven sentences, three topics, and only one pattern. Emily: each one is short, so you can say them without stopping.

Useful Language from the Episode

Phrase	Meaning or use	Where it comes from
Say it simple. Then add one more.	the line for the day	Paul and Emily repeat it three times
a pattern, not a list	one pattern makes many sentences	Paul’s answer to Emily’s notebook problem
Add one more.	add one more detail	Emily: “I like that phrase a lot.”
For here or to go?	a question in a cafe or bakery	the woman in Emily’s bakery story
To go, please.	your answer when you take it with you	Emily, when she goes back to the story
My brother can’t eat nuts.	say a food problem clearly	Emily’s bakery story
Does this cake have nuts in it?	ask about the food	Emily, with the same bricks in a different order
I left my keys at the office.	say what happened, with a place	the keys conversation
It’s too much. / Start a new sentence.	when a sentence has too many details	the salt picture
I cook dinner at seven with my roommate.	the sentence used for chunks	the pronunciation part

Two Short Conversations

What did you do last Saturday? (14:27)

Emily asks Paul about last Saturday. Paul answers with short sentences:

Paul: I woke up late, around nine. Then I made pancakes for my nephews.
Emily: Pancakes, nice. And what did you all do after breakfast?
Paul: We went to the park near my building. We played football for an hour.
Emily: And what about the evening?
Paul: In the evening, I took them home, and I watched a film alone.

Paul then points out the pattern. I made pancakes for my nephews: who, do, what, and for who. We played football for an hour: who, do, what, and how long. Emily adds that her short questions keep the talk moving.

I can’t get into my flat (15:17)

Emily pretends she has a problem: she left her keys at the office, on her desk next to her laptop. The office closes at six, and it is already seven. Her sister has a key, but she lives across the city. Paul’s advice: call her, send a message, wait in the café downstairs, and next time give a spare key to a neighbor.

Paul and Emily look at two sentences: I left my keys at the office (who, do, what, where, and left is past because it already happened) and I’ll buy a hot chocolate and wait there (a plan for later). Emily says: “In a real problem, the pattern still works.” Paul answers: “You need clear sentences fast.”

Mistake and Repair

At 17:14 Paul and Emily go through four mistakes. Emily made the first one earlier that day.

Mistake	Better
Yesterday I go to the market.	Yesterday I went to the market. (yesterday pulls the verb into the past)
Go to work at eight. (no who)	I go to work at eight. In English you almost always need the who.
I like in the morning. (no what)	I like long walks in the morning. / I like quiet mornings.
I go every Saturday morning at nine with my sister by bus to the market near the river to buy fruit. (too many details)	Every Saturday at nine, I go to the market with my sister. We take the bus. We buy fruit there.

Paul’s rule: you add one more, not ten more.

Say Long Sentences in Chunks

A long sentence is easy to build, but sometimes it is hard to say. Emily says she runs out of breath in the middle. Paul’s trick: break it into chunks, which are small groups of words. Listen at 19:13.

• Sentence: I cook dinner at seven with my roommate.
• In chunks: I cook dinner. / At seven. / With my roommate.
• Say the important words a little stronger: cook, dinner, seven, roommate. The small words (I, at, with, my) are quick and soft.

Emily’s comment: after chunks, “it sounds more natural now.” Natural means it sounds like normal, everyday speech. Paul and Emily say the sentence slowly first, then a little faster, with a three-second pause for you to say it.

Practice with the Episode

1. Listen for details

Use the times below. Try to answer before you read the answers.

1. 01:07, Emily’s green notebook. How many sentences did Emily copy, and how many weeks did it take? Where did she learn them?
2. 02:09, the bakery. What did the woman say? What did Emily want to ask about?
3. 05:08, building one sentence. Start with I drink tea. Which three details does Paul add, in which order?
4. 07:37, verbs without a what. Which three verbs does Paul give?
5. 09:40, salt in your soup. How many details are great in one sentence? What is too much?
6. 14:27, last Saturday. What did Paul make for his nephews, and how long did they play football?
7. 15:17, the keys. Where are Emily’s keys, and when does the office close?
8. 17:14, four mistakes. Which four mistakes do Paul and Emily talk about?

Answers

1. Two hundred sentences, in three weeks. She learned them by heart on the bus every morning.
2. “For here or to go.” Emily also wanted to ask about nuts, because her brother can’t eat nuts.
3. When (every evening), where (on my balcony), why (because it helps me relax).
4. Sleep, arrive, and smile.
5. One or two details are great. Five details in one sentence is too much.
6. Pancakes. They played football for an hour.
7. On her desk, next to her laptop. The office closes at six.
8. The wrong time of the verb (yesterday I go), a missing who, a missing what, and too many details in one sentence.

2. Say it out loud

Press pause after each line and say it after Paul and Emily:

• Say it simple. Then add one more.
• I drink tea every evening.
• I drink tea every evening on my balcony.
• I drank tea last night with my sister.
• I usually cook dinner at home.
• I cook dinner at seven with my roommate. (say it in chunks)

3. Build with Paul and Emily

Listen at 10:37. Paul gives the base I cook dinner. After each question there is a three-second pause. Say your sentence before Paul or Emily do.

1. Add when.
2. Add where.
3. Add with who.
4. Change the who to my roommate.
5. Change the time to the past. Use last night.

4. Quick quiz

Listen at 21:04. After each question, Paul and Emily wait three seconds. Say your answer before they do.

1. Fix this sentence: Last week I visit my aunt.
2. Add one more detail to this sentence: I read books.
3. Which sentence is better? One, She smiles everyone. Two, She smiles at everyone.

5. Role-play: Sunday mornings

Listen at 22:22. Paul asks, “What do you usually do on Sunday mornings?” Emily answers first. Then she waits, and you answer three questions:

1. What do you usually do on Sunday mornings?
2. What did you do last Sunday?
3. What will you do next Sunday?

6. Write your six sentences

This is the small task from the end of the episode:

1. Write one simple sentence about your day.
2. Add one more detail, and one more. Make five or six sentences.
3. Read them out loud, in chunks.

7. Write in the comments

Write one simple sentence about your day, then add one more detail. For example: I walk to work. Then: I walk to work every morning with my dog.

Keep Practicing

Want a guide you can use without the episode? Read How to Build Simple English Sentences and Add Details. It gives you the pattern, tables for the four detail questions and the time of the verb, common mistakes, and practice with sample answers.

Vocabulary in this episode: First, Then, After That, In the End: Signpost Words for Telling Things in Order.

Chapters

• 00:00 Why the Words Won’t Line Up
• 01:07 Emily’s Green Notebook
• 03:15 One Formula: Who + Do + What
• 05:55 Change the Who, the Verb, the What
• 08:18 Add One More: 4 Detail Questions
• 10:35 Build a Sentence With Us
• 12:46 7 Sentences, 3 Topics
• 14:14 Real Conversations + The Bakery Fix
• 17:12 4 Common Mistakes
• 19:03 Say Long Sentences in Chunks
• 21:01 Quiz + Role-Play
• 23:41 Today’s Challenge

Full Transcript

Emily: Have you ever known all the words, but no sentence came out?

Paul: Oh, I know that feeling. The words are there, but they won’t line up.

Emily: Right. It’s like having all the puzzle pieces, but no picture.

Paul: Welcome to English Practice Daily, the podcast where you practice real English with us. I’m Paul, and I’m really glad you’re here.

Emily: And I’m Emily. This episode is for A2 and B1 learners who want to speak in full sentences.

Paul: Today we share one simple pattern that you can use to build hundreds of your own sentences.

Emily: And by the end, you will build six sentences about your own day, starting from just one.

Paul: Here is our short line for today. Say it simple. Then add one more.

Emily: Say it simple. Then add one more. If you want, you can repeat after us.

Paul: And sometimes we’ll stop and give you time to speak too.

Paul: Emily, before we start, you told me a story about a notebook.

Emily: Oh no. The green notebook. Okay, I’ll tell it.

Paul: Please do. I think many listeners will know this feeling.

Emily: Before my first trip to London, I bought a small green notebook.

Paul: And what did you write in it?

Emily: Two hundred full sentences, and I copied them from a phrasebook, one by one.

Paul: Two hundred? That’s a lot of work.

Emily: It took me three weeks. I learned them by heart on the bus every morning.

Paul: So you felt ready for the trip.

Emily: I felt very ready. Then, on my second day, I walked into a small bakery near my hotel.

Paul: Let me guess. Bakeries weren’t in the notebook.

Emily: No, bakeries were fine. Page twelve was all about bakeries. I said, can I have a croissant, please.

Paul: Perfect. That came straight from your notebook.

Emily: Then the woman said, for here or to go. And that wasn’t on page twelve.

Paul: Oh no, that’s not on any page.

Emily: I also wanted to ask about nuts. My brother can’t eat nuts, and I wanted to buy him a cake.

Paul: And that sentence wasn’t anywhere in the notebook.

Emily: Nowhere, so I just stood there, and my face got hot. In the end, I pointed at a cake and smiled.

Paul: So did you buy the cake in the end?

Emily: I bought it, but I never found out about the nuts. I felt so silly.

Paul: That’s a hard moment. You studied for three weeks, and still you froze.

Emily: Yes. I had two hundred sentences, but I couldn’t make sentence two hundred and one.

Paul: And that’s the real problem. A notebook is a list, and a list always ends.

Emily: So the answer is more notebooks?

Paul: No. You need a way to build your own sentences. A pattern, not a list.

Emily: Okay. Show me the pattern, and I’ll tell you if it helps with my cake.

Paul: Deal. We’ll come back to your cake later.

Paul: So here is the pattern. Some teachers call it a formula. A formula is a fixed way to make something.

Emily: A bit like a recipe, then.

Paul: Yes, a bit like a recipe. Our formula has three main parts and one extra part.

Emily: Okay, I’m ready for part one.

Paul: Part one is who. In grammar books, this is the subject. The person or thing that does it.

Emily: Who does it. Like I, you, or my brother.

Paul: Yes. Part two is do. The action. In grammar books, it’s called the verb.

Emily: The verb is the action word. Drink, cook, call.

Paul: Right. Part three is what. The thing that gets the action. That’s the object.

Emily: So who, do, what. Subject, verb, object.

Paul: And part four is one more thing. A detail. When, where, why, or how often.

Emily: Can you show me with a real sentence?

Paul: Sure. In the sentence I drink tea, who is I, do is drink, and what is tea.

Emily: I drink tea. That’s a very short sentence.

Paul: It’s short, but it’s complete. Now picture a LEGO base plate.

Emily: The flat green board? I had one when I was a kid.

Paul: Yes, that one. First you put three bricks on it, who, do, and what, and that’s your base.

Emily: And where do the details go?

Paul: The details are extra bricks. You click one more on top. Then another one.

Emily: Oh, I like that. The base stays the same, but the building gets bigger.

Paul: Exactly. So let’s build. I drink tea. Now add when. I drink tea every evening.

Emily: I drink tea every evening. Repeat after us. I drink tea every evening.

Paul: Now add where. I drink tea every evening on my balcony.

Emily: I drink tea every evening on my balcony. That’s a nice picture.

Paul: Now add why. I drink tea every evening on my balcony because it helps me relax.

Emily: Wow, that one is long. But it’s the same three bricks, plus three more.

Paul: Right. From one base, we already have four sentences.

Emily: Say it simple. Then add one more. Now I really get our line.

Paul: That’s the whole idea. The pattern does the hard work for you.

Emily: Paul, let’s look at each brick slowly. I want to play with them.

Paul: Sure. Let’s start with who. If you change it, you get a new sentence.

Emily: Let me try, and you can try with me. My brother drinks tea every evening.

Paul: Good. And notice the small s in my brother drinks, he drinks, and she drinks.

Emily: Oh, right. I always forget that s.

Paul: Everyone does at first, so don’t worry if you forget it too. Now the second brick, do. The verb can change its time.

Emily: You mean past and future?

Paul: Yes. Listen to four short ones. I drink tea. I drank tea. I will drink tea. I’m drinking tea.

Emily: I drink tea. I drank tea. I will drink tea. I’m drinking tea.

Paul: You have the same three bricks with four different times. Now add a detail to one of them.

Emily: I drank tea last night with my sister.

Paul: That’s perfect. Drank goes with last night. The time detail and the verb agree.

Emily: Oh, that’s a useful tip. The detail tells you which verb to use.

Paul: Exactly. Yesterday, last week, and last night all pull your verb into the past.

Emily: And tomorrow pulls it into the future. I will call my mom tomorrow.

Paul: Great. Now the third brick, what. Change it, and you get a new sentence again.

Emily: So you drink tea, you drink water, or you drink orange juice.

Paul: Simple, right. But here’s a small surprise. Some verbs don’t need a what.

Emily: Really? Which ones don’t need it?

Paul: Sleep, for example. You can say I sleep, but you don’t sleep something.

Emily: Ha, no. I sleep a pillow. That sounds very strange.

Paul: Very strange. Arrive is the same. I arrive at eight. And smile. She smiles.

Emily: So with those verbs, you go straight to the detail.

Paul: Yes. I sleep for seven hours. I arrive at work at eight. She smiles at everyone.

Emily: Okay, so you need who, do, and what, and sometimes no what.

Paul: That’s the pattern. With simple bricks, you can make lots of buildings.

Emily: Now tell me more about the extra bricks. The details.

Paul: A detail is a small piece of extra information. It makes your sentence clear.

Emily: And how many kinds are there?

Paul: Grammar books list many. But I like four easy questions. When, where, why, and how often.

Emily: When, where, why, and how often. You can remember four questions easily.

Paul: Let’s do one each. For when, you can say in the morning, at six, on Fridays, or after lunch.

Emily: For where, you can say at home, on the bus, at the office, or near the station.

Paul: For why, you can say because I’m tired, because it’s cheap, or to learn English.

Emily: And for how often, you can say always, usually, sometimes, never, or twice a week.

Paul: And there’s a bonus question, with who. You can say with my friends, with my dad, or alone.

Emily: So when I want a longer sentence, I just ask myself one question.

Paul: Exactly. Ask a question, then add the answer. That’s how you add one more.

Emily: Add one more. I like that phrase a lot.

Paul: But here’s a warning. Details are like salt in your soup.

Emily: Salt? I don’t follow you yet.

Paul: A little salt makes soup taste good. A whole jar of salt ruins it.

Emily: So too many details make a bad sentence.

Paul: Yes. One or two details are great. Five details in one sentence is too much.

Emily: Then what do I do with all my extra information?

Paul: You can start a new sentence. Short sentences are your best friends.

Emily: Let me try with how often. I usually cook dinner at home.

Paul: Good. Now listen to where usually goes in that sentence.

Emily: It goes before the verb, like I usually cook, I never eat, and I always forget.

Paul: Right. Words like usually go before the main verb. That’s a small thing worth noticing.

Paul: Okay, now let’s build together. And this time, our listeners build first.

Emily: So how does this game work for you at home?

Paul: I give a base and one question. You say the new sentence during the pause.

Emily: And after the pause, one of us says an example, so you can check.

Paul: Here’s the base. I cook dinner. First, add when.

Emily: One… two… three…

Paul: For example, I cook dinner at seven.

Emily: Now add where.

Paul: One… two… three…

Emily: For example, I cook dinner at seven in my small kitchen.

Paul: Now add with who.

Emily: One… two… three…

Paul: For example, I cook dinner at seven in my small kitchen with my roommate.

Emily: That’s getting long. Let’s change the who now. Make it my roommate.

Paul: One… two… three…

Emily: My roommate cooks dinner at seven. And I didn’t forget the s.

Paul: Nice. Now change the time to the past. Use last night.

Emily: One… two… three…

Paul: My roommate cooked dinner last night. Last night pulled the verb into the past.

Emily: Now let’s join two sentences. You can use and, then, or but.

Paul: With and. My roommate cooked dinner last night, and I washed the dishes.

Emily: With then. I get home at six, then I cook dinner.

Paul: With but. I usually cook at home, but on Fridays we order pizza.

Emily: Look at that. One base, I cook dinner, and now we have eight sentences.

Paul: And none of them came from a notebook.

Emily: That’s the best part. You and I made them ourselves.

Emily: Can we try the pattern with other parts of life? Not only food.

Paul: Let’s do three topics. Study and work, friends, and small problems.

Emily: Study and work first. I study English for twenty minutes before work.

Paul: Who is I, do is study, what is English. Then how long, and when.

Emily: I study English for twenty minutes before work. Repeat after me.

Paul: Last one. Our team has a meeting every Monday at ten.

Emily: Our team has a meeting every Monday at ten. Has, not have, because our team is one group.

Paul: Now friends. I call my best friend every Sunday evening.

Emily: I meet my old classmates for coffee once a month.

Paul: And a past one. I visited my friend’s new flat last weekend.

Emily: Visited, because last weekend is finished. I’m getting good at this.

Paul: You really are. Now small problems.

Emily: I left my umbrella on the train this morning.

Paul: And a solution. I will ask the station staff after work.

Emily: I will ask the station staff after work. Oh, that one is really useful.

Paul: So you have seven sentences, three topics, and only one pattern.

Emily: And each one is short, so you can say them without stopping.

Paul: Now let’s use it in a real conversation. No list, just talking.

Emily: Okay. Paul, what did you do last Saturday?

Paul: I woke up late, around nine. Then I made pancakes for my nephews.

Emily: Pancakes, nice. And what did you all do after breakfast?

Paul: We went to the park near my building. We played football for an hour.

Emily: And what about the evening?

Paul: In the evening, I took them home, and I watched a film alone.

Paul: It was a nice, tiring day. Now, did you notice the pattern in my answers?

Emily: Yes. I made pancakes for my nephews. Who, do, what, and for who.

Paul: And we played football for an hour. Who, do, what, and how long.

Emily: And my questions were very short. That helps too.

Paul: Good point. Short questions keep the talk moving. Now a conversation about a problem.

Emily: Okay, let’s pretend. Paul, I have a problem. I can’t get into my flat.

Paul: Oh no. What happened?

Emily: I left my keys at the office. They’re on my desk, next to my laptop.

Paul: Is the office still open?

Emily: No, it closes at six. And it’s seven now.

Paul: Okay. Does anyone else have a key to your flat?

Emily: My sister has one. But she lives across the city.

Paul: Then you should call her right now.

Emily: I called her twice. She didn’t answer.

Paul: Okay. Send her a message, and wait in the café downstairs.

Emily: That’s a good idea. I’ll buy a hot chocolate and wait there.

Paul: And next time, give a spare key to a neighbor.

Emily: I will do that this week. Thank you, Paul.

Paul: Let’s look at two sentences. I left my keys at the office.

Emily: Who, do, what, where. And left is past, because it already happened.

Paul: And, I’ll buy a hot chocolate and wait there. That’s a plan for later.

Emily: It’s funny. In a real problem, the pattern still works.

Paul: Especially in a real problem. You need clear sentences fast.

Emily: Now I really want to go back to my bakery story.

Paul: Okay, let’s go back. So what could you say about the nuts?

Emily: My brother can’t eat nuts. Who, do, what.

Paul: Perfect. And then?

Emily: Then a question. Does this cake have nuts in it. It’s a question, but it has the same parts.

Paul: Yes. Questions use the same bricks, just in a different order.

Emily: And for here or to go, I could say, to go, please. I’m taking it to my brother.

Paul: Look at you. Sentence two hundred and one, and two hundred and two.

Emily: Ha! And this time, I didn’t need the notebook at all.

Paul: Now let’s look at a few common mistakes. And Emily, you made one earlier today.

Emily: Did I? When?

Paul: In our coffee break before recording. You said, yesterday I go to the market.

Emily: Oh no. Yesterday I went to the market.

Paul: Exactly. Remember, yesterday pulls the verb into the past. Go becomes went.

Emily: Yesterday I went to the market. Okay, what’s mistake number two?

Paul: Missing the who. Some learners say, go to work at eight.

Emily: Ah, there’s no subject. We don’t know who goes to work.

Paul: Right. I go to work at eight. In English, you almost always need the who.

Emily: Even when it’s very obvious who you’re talking about.

Paul: Even then, you still say it. Mistake three is missing the what. I like in the morning.

Emily: But you like what in the morning?

Paul: That’s what people will ask you. I like long walks in the morning.

Emily: I like quiet mornings. Hmm, that works too.

Paul: It does. And mistake four is the salt problem. Too many details.

Emily: Okay, give me an example so you can show me.

Paul: I go every Saturday morning at nine with my sister by bus to the market near the river to buy fruit.

Emily: I’m tired already. Let me fix it. Every Saturday at nine, I go to the market with my sister. We take the bus. We buy fruit there.

Paul: Much better. You made three short sentences, and the listener can follow you easily.

Emily: Say it simple. Then add one more. But not ten more.

Paul: Ha, exactly. You add one more, not ten more.

Paul: Now, a longer sentence is easy to build, but sometimes it’s hard to say.

Emily: That’s true. I run out of breath in the middle.

Paul: Here’s a trick for you. Break it into chunks, which are small groups of words.

Emily: Break it into chunks. Show me how.

Paul: Our sentence is, I cook dinner at seven with my roommate.

Emily: I cook dinner at seven with my roommate.

Paul: Now in chunks. I cook dinner. At seven. With my roommate.

Emily: I cook dinner. At seven. With my roommate.

Paul: And inside each chunk, we push the important words. We say them a little stronger.

Emily: Which words are the important ones?

Paul: The words with the information. Cook and dinner. Seven. Roommate.

Emily: Not I, not at, not with, not my. Those are small words.

Paul: Right. The small words are quick and soft. Listen again. I cook dinner, at seven, with my roommate.

Emily: I cook dinner, at seven, with my roommate. Oh, it sounds more natural now.

Paul: Natural means it sounds like normal, everyday speech. Now you. Slowly first.

Emily: I cook dinner. At seven. With my roommate.

Paul: One… two… three…

Emily: Now a little faster. I cook dinner at seven with my roommate.

Paul: One… two… three…

Emily: Good. With chunks, you’ll find that even a long sentence feels easier.

Emily: Paul, let’s play a game now. I want to test you and our listeners.

Paul: Sure. What kind of game?

Emily: Three quick questions. Everyone answers after three seconds.

Paul: Okay. Listeners, you can play with us too.

Emily: Question one. Fix this sentence. Last week I visit my aunt.

Paul: One… two… three…

Emily: Last week I visited my aunt. Last week pulls the verb into the past.

Paul: My turn to ask. Question two. Add one more detail to this sentence. I read books.

Emily: One… two… three…

Paul: For example, I read books before bed. Or, I read books on the train.

Emily: Question three. Which sentence is better? One, she smiles everyone. Two, she smiles at everyone.

Paul: One… two… three…

Emily: Number two. She smiles at everyone. Smile doesn’t need a what, so we add at.

Paul: Great game. Now a short role-play. I’m a new friend, and I ask about your Sunday mornings.

Emily: Okay, I’ll answer first, and then it’s your turn.

Paul: So, Emily, what do you usually do on Sunday mornings?

Emily: I usually go swimming at the pool near my flat. Then I have a long breakfast with my sister. After that, I call my mom.

Paul: You heard three sentences, and all of them use the pattern. Now it’s your turn, listeners. Emily waits, and you answer first.

Emily: Mm-hm. Take your time, and say your answer out loud.

Paul: What do you usually do on Sunday mornings?

Emily: One… two… three… For example, I usually water my plants on Sunday mornings.

Paul: And what did you do last Sunday?

Emily: One… two… three… For example, I visited my parents last Sunday.

Paul: And what will you do next Sunday?

Emily: One… two… three… For example, I will watch a football match with my friends.

Paul: Nice. You used the present, the past, and the future, with the same bricks every time.

Emily: So, Paul, let’s finish with the three big ideas from today.

Paul: One. Every sentence starts with three bricks. Who, do, what.

Emily: Two. To add a detail, ask yourself a question. When, where, why, or how often.

Paul: Three. When the sentence gets long, break it into chunks.

Emily: And remember the salt. A little is good. Too much ruins the soup.

Paul: Here is one small thing you can do today. Write one simple sentence about your day.

Emily: For example, I read the news. Then add one more detail, and one more. Make five or six sentences.

Paul: Then read them out loud, in chunks.

Emily: It takes five minutes, and you will have six sentences that are really yours.

Paul: That’s how confidence grows. Not from a big promise, but from small practice like this.

Emily: And our line, one last time. Say it simple. Then add one more.

Paul: Say it simple. Then add one more.

Emily: Now a question for you. Write one simple sentence about your day in the comments, and then add one more detail.

Paul: For example, I walk to work. Then, I walk to work every morning with my dog.

Emily: We read the comments, and we love seeing your sentences grow.

Paul: In the next episode, we will practice more everyday English you can use right away.

Emily: If this pattern helped you, please subscribe so you don’t miss it.

Paul: Thanks for building sentences with us today.

Emily: See you next time. And good luck with sentence number two hundred and one.