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In this chapter – and much of this book – we describe elements that make up Globish. For those who have used some English, this will allow you to compare grammar in a little more detail. But it is NOT meant to teach Globish. We only want to inform future Globish users of its similarities using simple English grammar. So we hope this chapter is enough for readers to learn “about” Globish, though not enough to “learn” Globish.

S + V + O

Globish uses simple grammar, but following its grammar rules are very important. It is like putting a meal together with the words you have. It gives them an order that arrives at a good result. Most basic English learning now uses this kind of letter-notation to show the order of words in a sentence:

S = Subject - person or thing making the action
V = Verb - the action

O = Object - person or thing that receives the action

The first thing we observe is the general Voice or Mood of a sentence:

Active voice

Almost all of Globish will be in the Active Voice. In Globish, as in English, the main structure of the Active Voice is SUBJECT FIRST:

SUBJECT (person the sentence is about) + VERB (the action of the Subject).

I work on Sundays. I (S) work (V) on Sundays. (S + V)

Many times this exact order also includes an OBJECT (noun or pronoun that the action is performed on).

I (S) know (V) Globish (Object). (S + V + O)

Sometimes there is an Indirect Object as well as a Direct Object.

I (S) give (V) you (IO) a present (DO). (S + V + IO + DO)

We add DO and NOT to the basic sentence to make it negative.
I (S) don’t know (DO NOT + V) Spanish (O). (S + DO NOT + V + O)
We add the word do or does to begin a Question Sentence.

Do (DO/DOES) you (S) know (V) French (O)? (DO/DOES + S + V + O?)

Another kind of Question begins with a Wh word. (Why, which, what, where, who, when)
When (Wh) do (DO/DOES) you (S) drive (V) the car (O)?
“THERE IS/THERE ARE” is the only kind of direct, Active voice statement where the subject comes after the verb. We use these for stating the existence of something.
There are (V) two doctors (S) in town.

Passive voice

Globish suggests that we do not use the Passive Voice very often. But sometimes it will be heard by students. Therefore you should know that it leaves the subject until the end, as in the previous sentence - But sometimes it will be heard by students. But sometimes it will be heard by students is a sentence we just used which is in Passive Voice. This means the Passive Voice requires (BE + V3) the third form of the verb, called the past participle. We might say The program will be dropped completely. ….The program will be dropped (V3) completely… (You see there appears to be NO S! But someone dropped it. That someone is the real subject, but the Passive Voice may leave it out.

Imperative mood (Demanding)

Do not walk on the grass. Drink 8 glasses of water every day. These sentences leave off the subject You. (You) Do not walk on the grass. (You) Drink 8 glasses of water every day. These are used if there is danger, or something is very important for other reasons. Again, we have left out the subject: You, in this case. 

Conditional (About “If” and “Maybe”)

Some people call it a Mood, others call it a Voice. It is very much like the Active Voice except that it uses Conditional words to change the meaning of the sentence.
1. If I (S) move (V) to Spain, then I (S) will not speak (WILL + NOT + V) their language.
2. I (S) study (V) French (O) now. BUT: I (S) might (MAY/MIGHT) study (V) Italian (O) soon.

Verbs and time

All Verbs are concerned in some way with the TIME the action happens.

I (S) am (V) happy. (means right NOW)

I (S) was (V) happy. (means BEFORE, NOT now.)

I (S) will be (V) happy. (means in FUTURE.)

Verb tenses

Tense means “time.” Verb Tenses tell you the relative time the action took place. Globish may use as few as 6 - and up to 10 – of 12 verb tenses in English.

As in the above chart, all verbs have 3 forms. Some samples:
(V1) talk (V2) talked (V3) talked

(VI) go (V2) went (V3) gone

(V1) let (V2) let (V3) let

There are about 100 of these irregular verbs in Globish.

Many times verbs are used as nouns. Then they are not really a verb in the sentence.

Swimming (S) is (V) fun.

I (S) like (V) swimming (O).

Also many times the infinitive form of the verb becomes a noun object. Again, they are like nouns and are not acting as action verbs.
I (S) like (V) to swim (O).

On Articles

Some languages like English have articles a, an and the to show if any noun is general or is the only one. A teacher could be any teacher. The teacher is the one for this class only.

On Learning Globish

There are several methods to learn Globish now, and more are being created. First, many English teachers have made their own Globish courses. They used the first books in French by Jean Paul Nerrière Don’t Speak English - Parlez Globish and Découvrez le Globish (with Jacques Bourgon and Phillipe Dufresne).

On the Internet at jpn-globish. com (French), Globish. com and bizeng. net now. New teacher-created courses continue to happen the world over from Korea to Hungary to India and back.
An Internet online course called Globish IN Globish™ (GNG) is offered by David Hon. The same lessons operate “cross-platform” on both computers and cell phones – with low bandwidth pages data costs. The new GNG will allow any English learner who can read 350 words to start learning everything using only Globish. That person learns 44 more of the most-used Globish words in every lesson, to the full 1500. At the same time, GNG offers simple, correct, grammar and sentence structure, as well as listening and pronunciation practice.

In addition to providing this book, and GNG, in the near future, Globish.com will offer several directions for beginners learning Globish in their own languages. Many of these courses will be on the Internet and in other materials packaged for easy use by the student and instructor. The first of these courses will be in Spanish and Hindi, but others are being designed for specific global business needs.

Technical words

Pronoun

a substitute for a noun: "man" becomes "he."

Negative

what something is NOT. "Mary is not happy."

Participle

the third form of a verb: 1. go 2. went 3. gone

Imperative

a sentence which demands you do something.

Conditional

a verb form which says something could happen.

Articles

a, an, or the. these tells you if a noun is any of the same things, or if we are talking about just one.

Infinitive

uses the basic verb form with "to" in order to make a noun phrase. "Children like to play."

International words

Phones

devices for talking and texting over long distances.

Data

The information in computers and cell phones

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