English grammar drills part 19 pps

Two other verbs have irregular pronunciations in the third-person singular:do /duw/ rhymes with two does /dǝz /rhymes with buzz say /sey/ rhymes with gay says /sεz/ rhymes with fez Exerc

Two other verbs have irregular pronunciations in the third-person singular:

do /duw/ (rhymes with two) does /dǝz /(rhymes with buzz) say /sey/ (rhymes with gay) says /sεz/ (rhymes with fez)

Exercise 8.3

All of the verbs in the following list form their third-person singular in the regular way with a

single sibilant sound pronounced /s/ or /z/ or with a separate unstressed syllable pronounced

/ǝz/ Write the third-person singular form of the noun in the /s/, /z/, or /ǝz/ column depending

on its pronunciation

Singular

1 race

2 send

3 knock

4 shop

5 eat

6 mention

7 rush

8 approach

9 contain

10 doubt

11 cause

12 clash

13 hedge

14 end

15 freeze

16 show

17 fail

18 patch

19 allow

20 sign

The spelling of the third-person singular is quite regular, following the same spelling rules as the plural of regular nouns

If the verb ends in a sibilant sound, the ending is spelled -es (unless the present-tense verb already ends in an e, in which case just the -s is added) For example:

box boxes buzz buzzes catch catches clutch clutches wish wishes budge budges

If the verb ends in any nonsibilant sound (vowels, voiced and voiceless consonants), then we

merely add -s, for example:

snow snows (ends in vowel) bring brings (ends in voiced consonant) result results (ends in voiceless consonant)

The only possible confusion is with verbs that end in a fi nal silent e For example:

give gives strike strikes relate relates complete completes

At fi rst glance, the fi nal silent e  -s looks just like the -es ending that is used after sibilant

sounds to indicate that the third-person singular -es is pronounced as a separate syllable For

example, compare the spelling of vote-votes and push-pushes The spelling of votes is a fi nal silent

e  -s The spelling of pushes is a sibilant sound /š/ plus a second, unstressed syllable /ǝz/.

As was the case with the plural of regular nouns, if the verb ends in a consonant  y, change the y to i and add -es For example:

cry cries deny denies

reply replies spy spies try tries

However, if the fi nal y is part of the spelling of the vowel sound, then just add an s For

example:

buy buys enjoy enjoys obey obeys play plays

Exercise 8.4

Write the third-person singular form of the base-form verbs in the fi rst column

Base form Third-person singular form

please pleases

1 admit

2 supply

3 go

4 leave

5 annoy

6 kiss

7 have

8 match

9 identify

10 declare

11 reduce

12 approach

13 destroy

14 eliminate

15 convince

Past tense

There are two different types of past-tense forms: regular and irregular The regular verbs form

their past tense by adding -ed (or -d if the word already ends in e) to the base form.

The -(e)d ending has three different, but completely predictable pronunciations If the base

ends in either t or d, the -ed is pronounced as a separate syllable / ǝd/ rhyming with bud Here are

some examples:

-ed pronounced as separate syllable

fainted goaded kidded mended parted raided

If the base ends in a voiceless consonant except for t, the -ed is pronounced /t/ The fi nal voiceless consonants are usually spelled -p, -(c)k, -s, -sh, -(t)ch, -x, -f and -gh (when pronounced

/f/) Here are some examples:

-ed pronounced /t/

boxed capped clutched coughed kissed packed

If the base ends in a vowel or voiced consonant except for d, the -ed is pronounced /d/ Here

are some examples:

-ed pronounced /d/

annoyed bored

called fanned grabbed played

Exercise 8.5

Write the past-tense form of the following verbs in the appropriate column depending on the

pronunciation

1 defi ne

2 wash

3 shout

4 range

5 own

6 test

7 grant

8 save

9 compare

10 approve

11 pick

12 extend

13 rule

14 tax

15 permit

The spelling of the regular past tense follows the normal spelling rules If the base ends in a stressed syllable with a short vowel, a single fi nal consonant will usually double, according to the

normal spelling rules, for example:

Base Past tense

hop hopped rob robbed rot rotted sin sinned

If the base form ends in a consonant  -y, the y will change to i before the -ed ending For

example:

try tried supply supplied rely relied marry married justify justifi ed

If the base form ends in y that is part of a vowel sound spelling, keep the y and add -ed For

example:

annoy annoyed enjoy enjoyed obey obeyed play played employ employed

Exercise 8.6

Write the past-tense form of the following base-form verbs

imply implied

1 show

2 deny

3 drop

4 vary

5 occur

6 hope

7 permit

8 stay

9 apply

10 fl ow

11 slip

12 delay

13 star

14 enjoy

15 dry

Irregular past tenses

The irregular verbs preserve older ways of forming the past tense In earlier forms of English, the

irregular verbs fell into well-defi ned patterns By modern times, however, the historical patterns

had collapsed together so that today it is not practical to learn irregular verbs according to their

historical patterns

Infi nitive

The infi nitive is completely regular (even for the verb be) The infi nitive consists of to followed by

the base form of the verb Here are some examples: