Search results for 'tag:Singular verbs tag:Inflections' matching tags 'Singular verbs' and 'Inflections'

Re: Spelling of Plural noun /vs/ the Third-person-singular verb inflection.

CalifJim — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:07:21 GMT

All the rules for adding S are the same for plurals as for third-person singular present tense verbs, including the words that end in y.

That said, there are a few exceptions that you will encounter from time to time, for example, words that end in f or fe. There are so few that you can just make a mental note of them when you encounter them.

Noun: loaf, loaves
Verb: loaf, loafs
Noun: knife, knives
Verb: knife, knifes

CJ

Re: Spelling of Plural noun /vs/ the Third-person-singular verb inflection.

Loojka — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:42:06 GMT

Digger36 wrote:

But what about the SPECIAL cases of the inflection on the 3-rd person singular;
      it seems less obvious, as in these cases ..
    he destroys / ~~destroies~~         sand dunes
    he ~~trys~~ / tries                  jumping high
    he ~~carrys~~ / carries            the load
    he ~~emptys~~ / empties        the glass of milk
    he ~~finishs~~ / finishes         the task
    he ~~flys~~ / flies                  the airplane
    he loafs / loaves                on the couch
would appreciate reasoned choices in the above and some rule(s).

Thanks,,

Change y into ie only when it ("y") is preceded by a consonant.
Add es when a word ends in s, sh, ch, x or o.

Re: Spelling of Plural noun /vs/ the Third-person-singular verb inflection.

Marius Hancu — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:38:07 GMT

See (for nouns)
Special cases
on this page at this grammar site:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm

Spelling of Plural noun /vs/ the Third-person-singular verb inflection.

Digger36 — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 22:20:16 GMT

Hello:

The USUAL rule for forming plural nouns is to add an "S".
There are reasonably well-established rules for forming plural nouns in special cases.

The USUAL rule for 3-rd Pers Sing verbs is to add an "S".
Q. What, if any, are the rules for forming 3-rd Pers Sinig verbs in special cases.
     Are they the same as for the plural noun?
This is of especial concern when the same word may be either a noun or a verb.

My question deals with the Plural noun /vs/ the Third-person-singular verb inflection.

The USUAL plural ...
   one book         two bookS
   one lift            two liftS
The USUAL inflection on the 3-rd person singular..
    I        lift      We   lift
    You    lift      You lift
    He     liftS     They lift

The SPECIAL cases of plurals may be exemplified as .
   one try          two tries (as with attempts)
   one carry       two carries (as with tooth cavities)
   one empty     two empties (as with bottles)
   one finish      two finishes (as with paints)
   one fly          two flies    (as with insects)
   one loaf         two loaves   (as with bread)

But what about the SPECIAL cases of the inflection on the 3-rd person singular;
      it seems less obvious, as in these cases ..
    he destroys / destroies         sand dunes
    he trys / tries                  jumping high
    he carrys / carries            the load
    he emptys / empties        the glass of milk
    he finishs / finishes         the task
    he flys / flies                  the airplane
    he loafs / ???                  on the couch
would appreciate reasoned choices in the above and some rule(s).

Thanks,,

Re: About English plural 's'

Su Cheng Zhong — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 23:58:55 GMT

korin said:
>Over approximately 1500 years, the mammoth set of inflections of the Old English has virtually been discarded leaving only 's' (plural nouns, 3rd person singular verbs, and saxon genitive) in modern English. English has become a rather analytic lg, where most of the syntactic relations within a sentence are expressed by means of word order.
I always confused by the 3rd person singular verbs. If some one like, can you explain the following sentence, for me?
"Jones shake(s) hand(s) with Tom."
The question is that how we calssify the subject and object, singular or plural? I always wonder that the shaking hand(s) is like the meaning of shaking a bar. For shaking hand(s) means that you wave your hand and cause other hand waving. So it should be 'Jones shakes Tom's hand', not 'Jones shakes hands with Tom'. For Jones' hand is initiative and Tom's hand is passive. If you regard both hand were shaken simultaneously, then, who are (is) subject? Are both Jones and Tom are subject? Then we have to say, 'Jones and Tom shake hands.'

Re: About English plural 's'

Su Cheng Zhong — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:56:27 GMT

>I do not claim that the plural ending 's' will definitely disappear. However, looking at the direction the English language is heading, the disappearance would come as no surprise.

>Over approximately 1500 years, the mammoth set of inflections of the Old English has virtually been discarded leaving only 's' (plural nouns, 3rd person singular verbs, and saxon genitive) in modern English. English has become a rather analytic lg, where most of the syntactic relations within a sentence are expressed by means of word order.

I agree with you. In scientific writing material 'kg', 'sec' etc, didn't put on 's'. People seemed like analytic word than synthetic word. They like 'more common' than 'commoner', 'most pleasant' than 'pleasantest' etc.

Re: About English plural 's'

korin — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:34:58 GMT

I do not claim that the plural ending 's' will definitely disappear. However, looking at the direction the English language is heading, the disappearance would come as no surprise.

Over approximately 1500 years, the mammoth set of inflections of the Old English has virtually been discarded leaving only 's' (plural nouns, 3rd person singular verbs, and saxon genitive) in modern English. English has become a rather analytic lg, where most of the syntactic relations within a sentence are expressed by means of word order.

In the colloquial English, quite often you can hear the speakers drop the 's' ending. Sentences like the ones below are not uncommon:
He like music
He don't know it
How much is it? -It's 5 pound.
It's 2 metre long.

I am not a native speaker of English, and whenever I hear one of my friends (ENS) saying something like that I ask them why. The most common answer: out of laziness.

Every language reflects the needs of its speakers. Prescriptivists may take pains to control a language. In most cases they are almost sure to fail. It is the speakers of a language that unconsciously influence the language's shape. Over the last 15 hundred years, as far as the inflectional system is concerned, the native speakers of English have displayed a clear tendency to simplify things.

What is going to happen next?