Basic English Grammar: When & how to add ‘s’

Hello. This is Gill at engVid, and today we have a lesson on words that end with an "s"

or words where you sometimes add an "s" for a particular reason and for different reasons,

because I found that sometimes people get a little bit confused about whether it's a

noun or a verb, whether it's a plural because it has an "s" on the end, that sort of thing.

Also, there's sometimes a question of how to pronounce the word if it has an "s" on

the end. Sometimes I don't hear people pronouncing the "s", or there may be other issues about

it. So, this lesson is to clarify all of that. Okay.

So, first of all, nice and simple, we add an "s" usually on a plural noun. If you have

a noun like "girl", more than one girl will be "girls", and "boy" becomes "boys". "Dog",

"cat", "cats", etc. So, most plurals in English, you just add an "s". There are a few irregular

plurals where you don't, like "foot" and "feet", things like that. "Tooth" and "teeth", but

most nouns you add an "s", so obviously that's what happens, just an "s" at the end. "Schools",

"cars", "trees", "horse", "horses", "case", "cases", "box", "boxes". But you can see that in this

line, you have to make an extra syllable because "horse" ends with an "s" sound already. The

singular ends with an "s" sound, so you have to say "horses". You have to put the extra syllable

"s" to be able to get another "s" sound in because you can't just say "horses". You can't hear the

extra "s" clearly enough; it all blends together. So, "horses", "case", "cases", "box", "boxes".

Okay? And I notice that people whose native language... Certain native languages like

Italian, for example, where plurals in Italian don't involve adding an "s",

the plurals are formed in a different way. They might be an "e" at the end or an "i" at the end

to form a plural. So, I notice perhaps with some Italian speakers, even if they're reading from

printed material and they're reading words ending in an "s", which are plurals, they may not actually

pronounce the final "s", and you have to really learn and make yourself pronounce that final "s"

when you're speaking in English or reading aloud in English. Okay? So those are the plural nouns.

Okay? And then the other main reason for adding an "s" is in the third person singular

of a present tense verb. I'm saying "present tense" because, again, some people get confused

and they think it applies to the third person singular in all tenses, but it doesn't. It's

only in the present tense. Okay. So, just to show the difference, "I lose", "she loses",

and again, we have to have an extra syllable here for "loses" because "lose" ends with an "s" sound,

so we have to do "us" to get the extra "s" sound in to make it clear. So, "I", "I" is first person

singular, so no "s" there. But "she", "he", "she", "it" are third person singular, so you have to

add an "s" in the present tense. Okay? "I miss", "he misses", again, the extra syllable there.

And then just to give you some that don't have to have the extra syllable, just to show what that...

"She jumps", so just the "s" at the end and make sure it's clear and pronounced. And also to show

how this only applies to the present tense. Here we have the past tense, so "I jumped",

"she jumped", no difference. Okay? And then in the future, "I will jump",

"she will jump", there's no "s" in the future. Okay? It only applies to the present tense,

for "he", "she", and "it". Okay? So, that's plural nouns, third person singular, present tense verb.

And just one more thing to mention, there's no apostrophe.

Sometimes even with native speakers, they see an "s" at the end of a word and they think, "Oh,

I need to put the apostrophe before the 's'", but the apostrophe is only there if it's a

contraction, an abbreviation, if something's missing. So, you would only, for example, say

"the dogs asleep", meaning the dog is... So, the apostrophe represents the missing

"i", that's the only time that you would put an apostrophe. So, with plural nouns,

also with verbs, you don't put an apostrophe for jumps. The apostrophe means there's a missing

letter, like "is", usually "is". So, that's completely different, meaning the dog singular,

the dog is asleep. And then the only other time that you would use an apostrophe

would be a possessive, something belonging to the dog. So, you might say "the dog's

dinner", for example. "The dog's dinner. I need to prepare the dog's dinner", meaning the dinner

for the dog, the dinner belonging to the dog. So, there's also the possessive form,

just as you would say "Mary's house", "Mary's house", "John's car", "John's car", meaning the

house or the car belonging to Mary, belonging to John, the dinner belonging to the dog.

So, that's the only two times where you would use an apostrophe, but not with a plural noun.

If it's "dogs" in the plural, then it's "dogs" like that, no apostrophe. And if it's a verb,

"She jumps", then that's the third person singular ending of the verb. "She jumps",

"He jumps", "It jumps". You don't put an apostrophe with it. Okay.

So, I hope that's been a useful explanation, clarification for you. And if you'd like to do

a quiz on this subject, just go to the website, www.engvid.com, and there's a quiz there for you

to do to test your knowledge. And so, that's it for today. Thank you for watching,

and hope to see you again soon. Okay. Bye for now.