One of my friends asks about subject verb agreement:
QUESTION: Can you please explain this?
I , we , you , they … play football
but
he, she plays football
Why is there an ‘s‘ after the verb play for he and she, but not for we and they?
MY ANSWER: Good question!
The reason for this is because in English we follow a rule that we call subject verb agreement.
Every sentence has a subject and a verb:
Example 1: I play football - Subject: I Verb: play
Example 2: He plays football - Subject: He Verb: plays
So when should you use an ‘s’ with the verb? Let’s take a look!
Using regular verbs:
| First Person: I, We Rule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: I play football, We play football |
Second Person: YouRule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: You play football |
| Third person singular: He, SheRule: Use ‘s’
Examples: He plays football, She plays football |
Third person plural: TheyRule: Do not use ‘s’
Examples: They play football |
Using Irregular verbs: Examples of irregular verbs: do, have
| First Person: I, We Rule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: I do it, We do it, I have it, We have it |
Second Person: YouRule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: You do it, You have it |
| Third person singular: He, SheRule: Use ‘s’
Examples: He does it, She does it, He has it, She has it |
Third person plural: TheyRule: Do not use ‘s’Examples: They do it, They have it |
SUMMARY: USE ’S' FOR HE / SHE (Third person singular)
ACTIVITY:
Correct these sentences:
1) He live in China.
2) I loves to eat icecream.
3) They watches movies all the time.
4) She eat slowly.
5) We goes swimming every weekend.
Put your answer in the comments!
Want more practice? Go here: http://www.askjohnenglish.com/?p=439
He lives in China
I love to eat icecream
They watch movies all the time
She eats slowly
We go swimming every weekend
[riffly_audio]F73C482209A011DE87EE0F34ACAAD276[/riffly_audio]
Excellent Roberta!
Your pronunciation is also excellent. Very clear.
Sometimes students do not pronounce the ‘s’ on the end of verbs clearly, but you did.
Well done!
Hello John
He lives in China.
Ilove to eat icecream.
They watch movies allthe time.
She aets slowly.
We go swimming every weekend.
100%! Good stuff!
all of sentences are incorrect.
How would you fix them Majid?
1.He lives in china
2.I love to eat icecream
3.They watche movies all the time.
4.she eats slowly.
5.We go swimming every weekend.
pls comment
Great work!
Feedback:
They watch movies all the time. (no ‘e’ in ‘watch’)
Don’t forget to end your sentences with a full stop(.)
what about:
oscar pay or oscar pays
Thank you
Hi Oscar
The correct verb form is:
Oscar pays for his lunch everyday.
or
Oscar plays tennis every Sunday.
Thank you John
why jessica,jat,ejong and jethro are common faces on the philippines?(GOOD QUESTION!!!)
Who are they?
hey!
when we use has and have?
Hi Ray!
I have (you/we/they have)
He has (she/John/Mary/everyone/someone/it/noone has)
John,
What about Jury and Juries.
The juries’ wallets are missing.
The jury wallets are missing.
The jury wallet is missing.
Help
Hi Lee
People on a jury are called ‘jury members’. A ‘jury’ cannot own a wallet. ‘Jury members’ can own a wallet.
Therefore, your sentences should be:
The jury members’ wallets are missing.
The jury wallets are missing.The jury wallet is missing.or… The Jury’s wallet is missing. (For example, if it is the purse/funds for the entire Jury, not necessarily owned by all Jury members, but belonging to them none-the-less.)
and @Lee…
‘The Juries’ means there is more than 1 Jury.
Great points Hun!
Thank you!
But WHY is there an s on plays or es on goes? What does it do for the sentence? It isn’t a flowing issue like an with a vowel or a with a constant or even a change in pronunciation due to the following word or ending of the current word. Why does English do this? It’s only for he/she/it/the…
Hi hun
What an interesting question! I like asking ‘why’! Firstly, it doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence. Yet, it must be done correctly for the sentence to be grammatically correct.
The general rule is: If a subject is singular and is a third person (it is neither the speaker nor the listeners), use ‘has’; otherwise use ‘have’
I/we/they ‘have’ a book. She/he ‘has’ a book.
Does this help?
Hi
The question why -s and why -es ; I think all languages has their grammer so thus why .
Thank you John for your answer you say ,it must be done correctly for the sentence to be grammatically correct.
Robert
He he! Yes that is right Robert!
After spending a week on skid row and seeing condition , the city authorties promise to make a diference.
Hi Robert
Great sentence! Some feedback:
After spending a week on skid row and seeing the conditions, the city authorties promise to make a diference.