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When to Add “s” to a Verb

If you feel confident about forming plurals in English by adding an “s” or “es” at the end of the word, I’m about to make you feel a little wobbly. Although most noun plurals are formed this way, verb plurals are formed by removing the “s.”

For example, which verb is plural, talk or talks? Because you would say, “He talks,” talks is the singular verb. You would say, “They talk.” Therefore, talk is the plural verb.

Example: The position listed on the university Web site caught my attention because my education, experience, and training closely parallel/parallels your needs.

Answer: This sentence has two sets of subjects and verbs. The first subject/verb combination is position/caught. The second set of subjects is education, experience, and training, which is plural. We would say, “They parallel” so we must write or say, “…my education, experience, and training closely parallel your needs.”

Example: If he or she needs/need me, I will be in the other room.

Answer: In this sentence, he and she are the subjects; however, they are connected by or so we use the singular verb needs.

Pop Quiz

1. When he and Jenny walks/walk to work, they hold hands.
2. They leaves/leave at the end of the year for a month-long vacation.
3. Her dog, cat, and chicken gets/get along well together.
4. When he gets/get angry, his face turns red.
5. She goes/go away every August.

Answers

1. walk (plural)
2. leave (plural)
3. get (plural)
4. gets (singular)
5. goes (singular)

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Posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2007, at 8:44 pm

What Does vs. What Do

Should we say, “What does Gloria and I have in common?” or “What do Gloria and I have in common?”

If you turn the question around to place the subjects first, you would say, “Gloria and I does/do have what in common.”

Gloria and I are the subjects so we need a plural verb. Which verb is plural? We would say she does but we would say they do. So do is the plural verb. Therefore, the answer is, “What do Gloria and I have in common?”

Try this example: “What does/do the children look like in their costumes?”

If you turn the question around to place the subjects first, you would say, “The children does/do look like what in their costumes.”

Because children is a plural subject, we again need the plural verb do.

Try this example: “What does/do the coach expect from the team?

Turning the question around, we realize that our subject is coach, which is singular. Therefore, we would say, “What does the coach expect from the team?”

Quiz

1. What does/do she look like without makeup?
2. What does/do you and your husband think of the movie?
3. What does/do the team uniform look like?
4. What does/do the team members think of the new coach?

Answers

1. What does she look like without makeup?
2. What do you and your husband think of the movie?
3. What does the team uniform look like?
4. What do the team members think of the new coach?

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Posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007, at 3:10 pm

What Is a Gerund and Why Care?

What is a gerund and why do you need to know? Maybe it would be better to answer the second part of the question first so that you have some motivation to identify gerunds. If you are able to pick the gerund(s) out in your sentence, you will avoid a grammar gaffe that often goes unnoticed even by seasoned editors. Is your curiosity at least somewhat piqued?

Gerunds, also called verbal nouns, are formed when verbs have -ing added to them and are used as nouns.

Examples: Walking is great exercise.
Hiking up that steep mountain seems impossible.
Talking more about this will not change my mind.

Note that in each of the examples above, the -ing word–the gerund–acted as the subject of the sentence.

Gerunds, like other nouns, may also act as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of the preposition.

Examples: We like talking on the phone every night. (direct object)
I give him credit for talking. (object of the preposition for)

It is helpful to recognize gerunds because if a noun or pronoun precedes a gerund, you want to use the possessive form of that noun or pronoun.

Correct Example: My running ahead bothered him.
Incorrect Example: Me running ahead bothered him.

Correct Example: Their separating does not mean they won’t continue to be good parents to their three children.
Incorrect Example: Them separating does not mean they won’t continue to be good parents to their three children.

Examples: Alex’s skating was a joy to behold.
Ben’s walking improved once his ankle healed.
The girl’s dancing won her a trip to Hawaii.

Pop Quiz

Identify the gerund in each sentence. If there is a noun or pronoun preceding it, make the noun or pronoun possessive.

1. Working efficiently is required in the restaurant business.
2. She won three gold medals for swimming.
3. The devaluing of the dollar continued throughout the summer.
4. Don’t criticize me trying to get his attention.
5. I’d like to know Alicia thinking about the issue.

Quiz Answers

1. Working efficiently is required in the restaurant business.
2. She won three gold medals for swimming.
3. The devaluing of the dollar continued throughout the summer.
4. Don’t criticize my trying to get his attention.
5. I’d like to know Alicia’s thinking about the issue.

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Posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007, at 6:00 pm

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