C. Forming Sentences in Simple Present Tense: Subject-Verb Agreement
In Unit 2, you learned about nouns and subject pronouns; in this unit, you will learn how to add the correct form of verbs to the nouns and pronouns to make sentences in the simple present tense.
Let’s use the following verbs as examples: to go, to do, to have, to eat. Study the chart:
|
Singular |
Subject |
To go |
To do |
To have |
To eat |
|
First person |
I |
go |
do |
have |
eat |
|
Second person |
you |
go |
do |
have |
eat |
|
Third Person |
he / she / it |
goes |
does |
has |
eats |
Pay attention to the words in bold, how the forms of the verbs change with the third person singular he, she, and it.
|
Plural |
Subject |
To go |
To do |
To have |
To eat |
|
First Person |
we |
go |
do |
have |
eat |
|
Second Person |
you |
go |
do |
have |
eat |
|
Third Person |
they |
go |
do |
have |
eat |
As you can notice, the base form of the verbs didn’t change with the plural subjects.
Note:
* For verbs that end with “o” like “to go” and “to do,” you will add an “e” before adding the “s” for the third person singular (he, she, and it).
Example:
He goes
She does
* For verbs that end with “y” like “to fly” and to “to study,” you will add “ie” in place of “y” before adding the “s” for the third person singular (he, she, and it).
Example:
He studies
She parties (to party)
It flies
* For verbs that end with “ch” like “to watch” and “to catch” as well as verbs that end with “sh” like “to wash” and “to crash,” you will add an “e” before adding “s” for the third person singular (he, she, it).
Example:
He watches
She catches
It crashes