VOA · Everyday Grammar
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Everyday Grammar digs into one grammar topic per episode — verb tenses, prepositions, sentence patterns — with plenty of spoken examples. Because you are listening to language about language, it doubles as grammar review while you train your ears.
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01Today, on Everyday Grammar, we will learn to describe our birthdays.
02When people ask us the question, When is your birthday?
03We can answer a few different ways.
04We can use the season, spring, summer, autumn-fall, or winter, the month, or the day.
05My birthday is in the summer.
06Her father's birthday is in March.
07Last Sunday was her birthday.
08His birthday is the 4th of May.
09Remember that the word birthday is different from birthdate.
10Birthdate is the exact date, like December 7th, 1997.
11The word birthday can be the date, or you can answer more generally.
12For example, My niece's birthday is in August.
13Her birthdate is August 3rd.
14When we want to say how old we are, we can use the present or future verb tenses depending on when our birthdays are.
15We can use the past tense with the verb turn.
16If we are talking about a future birthday, say, next year, or in a few months, we can answer the question of How old will you be?
17with I will be plus age or I'll be plus number years old In 2023, I will be 36 years old.
18On your birthday, you can use the present tense.
19Deborah is 55 today.
20For the past tense, we can use the structure of the verb be plus age years old, but we generally use it to talk about past ages in reference to something else.
21We can also use the verb turn to talk about how old we are.
22In this way, turn means to reach or pass a certain age.
23Therefore, we can use the past tense with turn for talking about birthdays.
24For example, I turned 35 this year.
25This means that my birthday was in the past.
26I am still considered to be 35 years old after my birthday.
27In the present tense, we can use turn to say that a birthday is today.
28as in bread turns 60 today.
29And to express a future birthday, we can use the same form, the present tense.
30Kristen turns 41 this year.
31This means that sometime this year, the near future, Kristen will be 41 years old.
32We can use the modal verb of will with turn to express a future birthday.
33I will turn 36 next year.
34When talking about making plans for a birthday, someone may ask you, what do you want to do for your birthday?
35You can answer with ideas of plans that you would like to do.
36You can use the expressions, I want to or I would like to to be more polite.
37You can even use the expression, I plus be going to, if you have already made the plans yourself.
38She wants to go to a French restaurant for her birthday.
39birthday.
40I'm going to celebrate with my friends later.
41If your birthday has already passed, someone may ask you, How was your birthday?
42You can answer by describing your birthday with an adjective.
43My birthday party was wonderful.
44Then they may ask you, What did you do for your birthday?
45You can answer in the past tense.
46For my birthday this year, we went to an amusement park.
47If someone wants to get you a gift for your birthday, they may ask you, What do you want for your birthday?
48What do you want on your birthday?
49If you want something for your birthday, that means a gift, generally.
50If you want something on your birthday, that could be a party or to make some type of plans to celebrate on the actual date.
51On my birthday next year, I would like to go to the countryside.
52Please don't buy me anything for my birthday.
53After your birthday, people may ask you what you received as a gift for your birthday.
54What did you get for your birthday?
55What did you get on your birthday?
56birthday?
57You could say that you got or received something.
58I got a cat for my birthday.
59Or you could say what you got and who gave it to you.
60My mom sent me a lovely birthday card in the mail.
61Here's how you might tell someone about another's birthday.
62Her husband gave her jewelry for her birthday.
63Let's end this report with a homework assignment.
64In five to eight sentences, write about your birthday this year.
65Try to use ideas that you have learned about in today's report.
66You can use the question headings as your guide.
67Remember to use the correct verb tense depending on when your birthday is.
68Send your writing to our email address learning english at voanews.com We will select one piece of writing and provide feedback and suggestions in a future report.
69I'm Faith Perlow and I'm Jill Robbins.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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