For example:įor verbs that end in a voiced ( m, me), ( n, ne), ( ng), ( d), ( g, ge), ( v, ve), ( th), ( w), ( r, re), or ( l, ll, le) sound or any vowel sound, then the third person singular suffix is pronouns as ( z). For example:įor verbs that end in a voiceless ( p, pe), ( t, tt, te), ( k, ck, ke), ( f, gh), ( th), ( h), or ( y) sound, then the third person singular suffix is pronounced as ( s). For verbs that end in an ( s, se, ce), ( z, ze), ( sh), ( ch), or ( j, dge) sound, then the third person singular suffix is pronounced as ( es). Pronouncing Regular Third Person Singular Present Tense VerbsĪlthough all regular English verbs take either an -s or -es suffix in the plural, the suffix is pronounced differently depending on the last sound of the verb. The copular verb be is irregular in all persons and numbers in the simple present. Anomalous verbs are verbs whose conjugation schemes differ significantly from both regular and irregular verbs. Three of these irregular, or anomalous, verbs experience consonant changes, vowel changes, or spelling changes in the third person singular form. Unlike most English verbs that consistently take an -s or -es suffix in the third person singular present tense form, four other English verbs are irregular in the simple present. For example:įor verbs spelled with a final y preceded by a consonant, change the y to an i and then affix the -es suffix. For example, the following list includes the infinitive, base form, and third person singular present tense form some common English verbs:įor verbs that end in an -s, -z, -x, -ch, or -sh, affix the suffix -es to the end of the verb. To form the third person singular present tense form of most regular English verbs, simply affix the suffix -s to the end of the verb. The following sections explain how to form the third person singular present tense form of regular English verbs as well as the forms of the four irregular English verbs in the simple present.įorming Regular Third Person Singular Present Tense Verbs In all but the third person singular, the simple present form is identical to the base form of the verb, which is defined as the infinitive without the p-word to. The simple present tense in English expresses habits and routines, general facts and truths, and thoughts and feelings.

Simple present tense irregular verbs