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How big is a two-pizza team? The present simple for jobs and team roles

Software teams describe their work in the present simple for jobs and responsibilities, the grammar this B1 English for IT lesson plan teaches.

Grammar
The present simple's -s after he and she (She tests every release.), doesn't and Does…?, and verbs of responsibility such as own, look after and be responsible for.
Topic
A first day on the mobile team of Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, with words like tech lead, product owner, headcount and silo.
Activities
A story on Amazon's two-pizza teams, the team's wiki page, a call with the tech lead, self-checking drills, a chat and open boxes, then a team-chat post and a recorded team introduction.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Who's on Your Team?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and talk about your workSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words for roles and teamsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: Two Pizzas, One Team

    • Read the story: how big is a two-pizza team?ArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: Meet the Mobile Team

    • Read the mobile team's page on the company wikiReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check the team pageTrue or falseUnlock
    • Choose the clearest line for the team pageQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: Hello from San Francisco

    • Listen to Iryna's first call with her tech leadListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the callQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: Jordan Tests, Wes Reviews

    • Study the scheme: the present simple for rolesGrammar schemeTry it
    • Fill in the gaps with the present simple: the team's who-does-what listFill in the gapsTry it
    • Choose the correct option: don't, doesn't, do or doesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Match each role with what the person doesMatchUnlock
    • Complete the sentences about Iryna: change I to sheFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Hi, I'm the New Developer

    • Choose the best reply to a new colleagueChatTry it
    • Open a box and talk about your teamOpen the boxUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Introduce Yourself to the Team

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Jordan's note about testingChoose the optionUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Write a post for your team chat: introduce yourselfWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record a short introduction of your teamSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

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Roles and responsibilities vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • report to
  • tech lead
  • product owner
  • stakeholder
  • headcount
  • cross-functional team
  • onboarding buddy
  • silo
  • job title

Grammar: present simple for jobs and responsibilities

Job descriptions run on the present simple: what each person does week after week, and what they answer for. Reading a team page and hearing two of its people talk, learners put the -s on every colleague's verb, switch to doesn't and does for negatives and questions, and name duties with own, maintain or look after.

Present simple: roles and responsibilities

Use the present simple for your job, your role and the things you do again and again.

Positive, negative and questions

I work on Android, but Wes reviews our code: only he, she and it take the -s. In negatives and questions, does and doesn't carry the -s instead, so the main verb stays bare: Does Kenji lead the team? Yes, he does.

Positive, negative and questions

PersonPositiveNegativeQuestion and short answer
I / you / we / theyI work on Android.I don't work on iOS.Do you work in New York? Yes, I do.
he / she / itWes reviews our code.Amara doesn't work in San Francisco.Does Kenji lead the team? Yes, he does.

One -s is enough

Put the -s on the verb only once. In questions and negatives, does and doesn't carry it, so the main verb stays in the base form: Does she work…? She doesn't work… In look after, report to and work with, the -s goes on the verb: she looks after, he reports to.

Works, fixes, tries, has

Most verbs just add -s: owns, reviews. After -ss, -sh, -ch, -x and -o, add -es: passes, pushes, fixes, does. A consonant + y becomes -ies (tries), a vowel + y keeps it (deploys), and have turns into has.

The verb ends inhe / she / itExamples
most verbs+ -swork → works, own → owns, review → reviews
-ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o+ -espass → passes, push → pushes, watch → watches, fix → fixes, do → does, go → goes
consonant + -y-y → -iestry → tries, copy → copies
vowel + -y+ -ssay → says, deploy → deploys
havehasIryna has a new laptop.

Verbs of responsibility

Teams describe jobs with a small set of verbs: you own a product, maintain a system, handle requests, look after a pipeline and report to a manager. Be in charge of and be responsible for take a noun or an -ing form: responsible for fixing small bugs.

VerbWhat comes nextExample
owna product, a feature, a screenBeatriz owns the backlog.
maintaina system, a tool, docsThe payments team maintains the Payments API.
handlequestions, requests, problemsFatima handles the merchants' questions.
look aftera system, a process, peopleDiego looks after the build pipeline.
report toa person (your manager)Iryna reports to Kenji.
work witha person or a teamBeatriz works with Daniel.
be in charge ofa noun or -ingJordan is in charge of the test plans.
be responsible fora noun or -ingIryna is responsible for fixing small bugs.

Sentences from the story and the team

The examples come from the story, the team page and the chat: a two-pizza team owns one product, Amazon doesn't make a team bigger, and a colleague asks Do you report to Kenji? Each describes a fixed role or a habit, not a single moment.

  • A two-pizza team owns one product, from the first idea to running it.
  • Amazon doesn't make the team bigger. It creates a new small team.
  • Kenji runs the planning, and Wes reviews most of the Android code.
  • Do you report to Kenji? Yes, I do.
  • Does Diego look after the builds? Yes, he does.

Typical mistakes

  • She work on the API.

    She works on the API.

    he / she / it: add -s

  • Does he works on iOS?

    Does he work on iOS?

    after does / doesn't: the base form

  • I am work in QA.

    I work in QA. / I'm a QA engineer.

    no am / is / are before a present simple verb

  • I'm responsible of the tests.

    I'm responsible for the tests. / I'm responsible for testing.

    responsible for + noun or -ing

More lessons on this grammar: Present simple lessons and exercises

Try the present simple for jobs exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 12 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 2 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • describe who does what with the present simple: She tests every release. He looks after the build pipeline.
  • say what you're in charge of with verbs of responsibility: I own the refunds screen. I'm responsible for testing new releases.
  • ask about a colleague's work with do and does: Does your team own the Payments API? Yes, we do.
  • introduce yourself to a new team in a chat post, with your title, your duties and your manager: I'm the new QA engineer on the web team.

Lesson 1 opens Hello, team, the first unit of English for IT B1 · Inside the Team, where learners introduce themselves, their role and their stack. It takes the present simple of English A1.2, the -s after he and she (lesson 1) and doesn't (lesson 2), into job descriptions; lessons 2 and 3 add the present perfect with for and since and question forms. A team page is a list of who does what, so nearly every line on it needs the present simple.

The warm-up wheel asks about job titles, team size and time zones; twelve words with pictures and audio follow, such as own, onboarding buddy and silo, with a picture quiz. The story explains Amazon's two-pizza team. At work, students read the mobile team's wiki page, check it as true or false and pick the clearest one-line job description for each role. Iryna's first video call with her tech lead is AI-voiced, with a quiz. Five self-checking drills follow the scheme, among them the team's who-does-what list and a rewrite from I to she; then students answer a developer from another team in a chat and open boxes about their own team.

Homework opens with a phrase bank for introducing your role, then a drill on a tester's note and a memory game that check themselves. Students write a post introducing themselves to their team chat and record an introduction of their team for a newcomer, two tasks the teacher reviews.

Grammar:
present simple · verbs of responsibility
Topic:
team roles · job titles · first day at work · two-pizza teams

Teaching tips

  • Start from the group's own org charts: each learner sketches their team, then gives one present simple line per person, such as She handles customer questions. In-company groups often share colleagues, which makes checking easy.
  • Play a guess-the-job round: a learner describes a colleague with three verbs and no title (He runs the planning and guides big technical decisions.), and the class names the role. One open box asks for exactly this.
  • Rewrite real profile lines after the clearest-line quiz: one-to-one learners bring the line from their own team page or profile and cut it down to a verb and an object, like Looks after the build pipeline.
  • Drill the spelling with work verbs: call out fix, push, try, deploy and have, and learners answer with a sentence about a colleague: Our DevOps engineer fixes the pipeline when it breaks.

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The whole course: English for IT B1 · Inside the Team

24 lessons at B1 for people who build, test or run software, in American English. Learners follow Iryna, a junior developer, through her first year at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: standups, tickets, code review, chats across time zones and job interviews. Each lesson is built around a true story from software history.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello, team

    roles, stacks and first days: the present simple, the present perfect with for and since, question forms

    1. Lesson 1 · you're hereHow big is a two-pizza team?Present simple for jobs and responsibilities
    2. Lesson 2Your first "Hello, World"Present perfect with for and since
    3. Lesson 3Write your personal READMEQuestion forms for getting to know colleagues

  2. Unit 2 The daily standup

    updates and blockers: the present simple and continuous, just, already and yet, have to and need to

    1. Lesson 4Why is it called a scrum?Present simple vs continuous and state verbs
    2. Lesson 5Done, not done yetPast simple, present perfect and going to for updates
    3. Lesson 6Help, I'm blocked!Have to, need to, don't have to and can't

  3. Unit 3 Bugs and tickets

    clear bug reports: the past continuous, imperatives and the zero conditional, quantifiers

    1. Lesson 7The first actual bugPast simple and past continuous for bug stories
    2. Lesson 8Steps to reproduceImperatives and the zero conditional for bug reports
    3. Lesson 9The email that couldn't go 500 milesQuantifiers in bug tickets

  4. Unit 4 Code review

    kind, useful comments: -ed and -ing adjectives, modals for suggestions, the first conditional

    1. Lesson 10What's a nit?-ed and -ing adjectives in review comments
    2. Lesson 11Could we maybe…?Modals for suggestions in code review
    3. Lesson 12Your first pull requestThe first conditional and unless in code review

  5. Unit 5 How it works

    explaining systems step by step: time clauses, the passive, relative clauses

    1. Lesson 13What happens when you type a URL?Time clauses with as soon as, until and once
    2. Lesson 14How is a barcode read?The present and past simple passive
    3. Lesson 15Draw it, then say itDefining relative clauses

  6. Unit 6 Remote and async

    chat, email and time zones: polite requests, future forms, the present perfect continuous

    1. Lesson 16Just say what you needPolite requests and indirect questions
    2. Lesson 17Your 9 a.m. is my noonFuture forms for plans across time zones
    3. Lesson 18Write it downPresent perfect continuous for status updates

  7. Unit 7 Users and clients

    user stories and plain explanations: verb + to or -ing, reported speech, comparisons

    1. Lesson 19As a user, I want…Verb + to or verb + -ing
    2. Lesson 20"The client said it was broken"Reported speech for client calls
    3. Lesson 21Explain it in ten hundred wordsComparisons for plain explanations

  8. Unit 8 Your next job

    resumes and interviews: used to, the past perfect, the second conditional

    1. Lesson 22A resume that shows resultsUsed to for your career path
    2. Lesson 23Tell me about a time when…The past perfect for STAR stories
    3. Lesson 24What would you do if…?The second conditional for interviews

Questions about this lesson

How do you answer "What do you do for a living?"
Give your job title, then one or two things you do: I'm a QA engineer. I test every release before customers see it. Or start with I work as…: I work as a DevOps engineer, and I look after the build pipeline. Keep the everyday work in the present simple, with no am before the verb: I work in QA, not I am work in QA.
How do you use the present simple to talk about your job?
Use the present simple for the regular parts of your job and your role: I write Android code. She reviews most of the pull requests. After he, she and it, the verb takes -s; negatives use doesn't or don't + the base verb (He doesn't work on iOS.), and questions start with Do or Does. The B1 English for IT lesson How big is a two-pizza team? on edio.ai turns this into a team's who-does-what list.
How do you describe your responsibilities at work in English?
Use a verb of responsibility and the thing you look after: I own the refunds screen. I look after the build pipeline. I handle merchants' questions. For a broader duty, say I'm responsible for or I'm in charge of with a noun or an -ing form: I'm in charge of the sprint planning. I'm responsible for testing new releases. Two or three such lines describe a job better than a long title does.
Is it "responsible for" or "responsible of"?
It's responsible for, followed by a noun or an -ing form: I'm responsible for the tests. She's responsible for testing new releases. Responsible of is a common mistake, and so is a bare verb after for: not responsible for test. In charge takes of: He's in charge of the planning, never in charge for. A quiz in How big is a two-pizza team?, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, tests both.
What are common IT job titles?
Common IT job titles include software engineer, QA engineer, DevOps engineer and tech lead, along with product owner, product manager and product designer. Seniority comes first (junior Android developer, senior Android developer), and a lead runs a group, as in merchant support lead. A title says little on its own, so add a verb: A QA engineer tests every release. A product owner decides what the team builds first.
What is a two-pizza team?
A two-pizza team is a team small enough to share two pizzas, which in practice means fewer than about ten people. The idea is linked to Amazon and usually credited to Jeff Bezos. Such a team owns one product from the first idea to running it (you build it, you run it), and when work grows, a new small team starts. People use the phrase as a size check: We're seven people, a real two-pizza team.
What are the roles on a software team?
Most software teams combine developers, a tech lead, a product owner and a tester, often with a designer and a DevOps engineer. In the present simple: the tech lead runs the planning, the product owner decides what to build first, the QA engineer tests every release, and the DevOps engineer looks after the build pipeline. A team with all the skills it needs is a cross-functional team; one that shares nothing is a silo.
What does "report to" mean at work?
To report to someone means to have that person as your manager: I report to the tech lead. The developers on the team report to him. The -s goes on the verb (she reports to), and questions take do or does: Who do you report to? In How big is a two-pizza team?, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, a new developer asks her tech lead Do I report to you?
How do you teach talking about jobs to B1 adults?
Begin with the learners' real teams, not a list of titles: each one names three colleagues, says what each does, then adds what they themselves are responsible for. Correct the -s and responsible for as you go. A model text helps next, since a team page shows how much a title and two verbs can say: Our designer designs the screens and tests new ideas with merchants.
How do you practice introducing your team with an in-company group?
Use a meet-the-new-colleague role-play: one learner plays a new colleague from another team, and the others introduce themselves with a title, two duties and a question, such as I'm the tech lead. I run the planning. Do you work with the payments team? Then swap. An open box in the B1 English for IT lesson How big is a two-pizza team? on edio.ai sets out this role-play in three steps.
What's good homework for practicing job descriptions in English?
A good task is a short post introducing yourself to your team chat: title, team, city, what you did before, two or three responsibilities, who you report to and a friendly question. On edio.ai, the B1 English for IT lesson How big is a two-pizza team? sets this post after a drill and a memory game that check themselves, and adds a recorded introduction of the learner's team; the teacher reviews both.
Are there interactive exercises for describing jobs and responsibilities?
Yes: self-checking gap-fills and chat role-plays let learners practice job descriptions with instant feedback. Without an account, this page plays four parts of How big is a two-pizza team?, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai: the mobile team's wiki page, a new developer's first call with her tech lead, a gap-fill that builds the team's who-does-what list, and a chat with a colleague from another team. The other exercises are locked.
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