In this chapter we are going to learn about how a subject affects the verb in Simple Present Tense sentences.
Study the following sentences and look at the underlined verbs.
-
I drink coffee everyday.
-
She drinks tea sometimes.
-
They like coffee.
-
Maria likes milk.
From those examples, we can see that some verbs end with -s and some others do not. More specifically, for subjects "She" and "Maria" the verbs end with -s but the others do not.
Look at the table below and study how each subject affects its verbs.
| She | |||||
| He | |||||
| It | swims | ||||
| Maria | |||||
| My father | |||||
| They | every day. | ||||
| We | |||||
| I | |||||
| You | swim | ||||
| My brother and I | |||||
| People |
Spelling Rules for Verb + -s/es
In general, a verb after third person or singular noun requires -s.
However, there are some exceptions.
For verbs that end in -o, -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, or -z we add -es in the third person.
-
go – goes
-
catch – catches
-
wash – washes
For verbs that end in a consonant + y, we remove the -y and add -ies.
-
marry – marries
-
study – studies
For verbs that end in a vowel + y, we just add -s.
-
play – plays
-
enjoy – enjoys
Simple Present Tense with "To Be"
If we use "to be", adding -s or -es is not necessary.
We have to change it into its correct form (is , am or are) depending on the subject of the sentence.
Study the table below for the pattern.
| She | |||||
| He | |||||
| It | is | ||||
| Maria | |||||
| My father | |||||
| I | am | happy. | |||
| They | |||||
| We | |||||
| You | are | ||||
| My brother and I | |||||
| People |
Quiz
In the following quiz you have to decide the best verb to complete each sentence.
Remember to see the subject as a clue. Click on the picture below to start.
