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Almost all verbs have a third person singular present indicative form with the suffix-[e]s. In terms of spelling , it is formed in most cases by adding -s to the verb's base form: run → runs . However if the base form ends in one of the sibilant sounds ( / s / , / z / , / ʃ / , / ʒ / , / tʃ / , / dʒ / ) and its spelling does not end in a ...
the possessive of James is spelled James's and pronounced - / z ɪ z /, but, singularly, the possessive of Jesus is often spelled adding only an apostrophe (Jesus ') and is and was usually pronounced the same (/ˈdʒiːzəs/). Singular nouns ending in s also form a possessive regularly by adding ' s, as in Charles's / ˈ tʃ ɑːr l z ɪ z / or ...
This is formed similarly to the verb's past tense had. The verb say displays vowel shortening in the third person present indicative (although the spelling is regular): says /sɛz/. The same shortening occurs in the past form said /sɛd/. (Compare the diphthong in the plain form say /seɪ/.) The verb wit is the only non-modal verb that is also ...
(The present participle and gerund forms of verbs, ending in -ing, are always regular. In English, these are used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns.) In the case of modal verbs the present and preterite forms are listed, since these are the only forms that exist with the present form identical for all persons.
Most nouns in English have distinct singular and plural forms. Nouns and most noun phrases can form a possessive construction. Plurality is most commonly shown by the ending-s (or -es), whereas possession is always shown by the enclitic-'s or, for plural forms ending in s, by just an apostrophe. Consider, for example, the forms of the noun girl.
The possessive form can be used either as a determiner (Manyanda's cat) or as a noun phrase (Manyanda's is the one next to Jane's). The status of the possessive as an affix or a clitic is the subject of debate. [6] [7] It differs from the noun inflection of languages such as German, in that the genitive ending may attach to the last word of the ...
In modern regional English dialects that use thou or some variant, such as in Yorkshire and Lancashire, it often takes the third person form of the verb -s. This comes from a merging of Early Modern English second person singular ending -st and third person singular ending -s into -s (the latter a northern variation of -þ (-th)).
The genitive singular of stems ending in sonorants, such as *déms "of the house" (fossilised in the phrase *dems potis "master of the house"). Secondary 2nd person singular verb ending *-s with verbs ending in sonorants, such as *gʷéms (from the root *gʷem-"to step, to come").