In English as in Portuguese nouns and verbs must agree with respect their to singular and plural forms. In other words a singular noun requires a singular verb, and a plural noun requires a plural verb. Mistakes in speaking and writing caused by violating this rule are very common, even to well educated native speakers of English.
Regular Verbs and Nouns, the easy ones.
Nouns that end in “s” are most often plural, and verbs that end in “s” are most often singular, some examples are:
- The boys jump on a trampoline. (plural) The boy jumps on a trampoline. (singular)
- The athlete runs every day. (singular) The athletes run every day. (plural)
- John swims five days a week. (singular) John and Mary swim every Monday.(plural)
Irregular Verbs and Nouns, the hard ones, that even educated native English speakers have trouble with, and which are especially exacerbating for non native speakers. Unfortunately there is no easy way to determine plural from singular, and the only remedy is to memorize these words, or to consult your dictionary often. Some recommended sites to assist you are:
- Lista de Verbos Irregulares
- List of English Irregular Verbs
- Irregular Nouns
- Problems with Verbs
- Irregular Noun and Verbs Practice
It is very important to master the skills that will allow you to ensure nouns and verbs agree in your speaking and writing. Devoting the time and effort to this endeavor will allow you to “stand head and shoulders above” your fellow students and many native English speakers.
Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.
Comentários (25)
This text has an excellent building to us, English learners.
It is always good to read whole tips in English and can understand all.
Thank you Bill!
One more excellent text from Bill. Thanks, man!
I’d just like to know whether you, Bill, can comment on these two points:
a) In the second line should it be “with respect to their” instead of “with respect their to”?
b) Is there something strange in the first sentence of the paragraph that begins “Irregular Verbs and Nouns”? It seems that there is no subject-verb structure.
I wonder if Bill can comment on these two items, for which explanation I thank him in advance.
Joao,
Good eye,
(a) was a typo, it should have been “… with respect to their …” My mistake.
(b) again my error, the sentence should read;
“Irregular verbs and nouns are the hard ones, … “.
Please accept my appologies for these errors, and thank you for pointing them our to me.
Thanks Bill.
This remind me that the other day my advisor corrected me about the use of “a number of nouns is” to “a number of nouns are”. After some searching, I understood why “a number of something” is plural. There is something to do with collective nouns. For those who want to know more about it, check these links:
[1] http://www.dailywritingtips.com/is-number-singular-or-plural/
[2] http://www.englishexperts.com.br/forum/plural-de-collective-nouns-substantivos-coletivos-t15930.html
Great! I’m very grateful. I love to receive e-mails of English Expert.
A long time ago I added your site on my blog, and of course I recommended it for English learners, in particular those from Malaysia and Indonesia, congratulations, Carlos from Brazil
Outra coisa q faz o inglês ainda mais difícil–há centenas de conjugações irregulares no pretérito. Ex. verbos como “to buy” (comprar) e “to sell” (vender), tão simples em português, são irregulares: “bought”, “sold”. Puxa!
Inglês -> buy(s) – bought – bought
PT -> compro, compras, compra, compramos, comprais, compram (pra ficar no presente)
congratulations by sharing your knowledgement with us.
tks,
Thanks a lot for your kind reply, Bill!
Gostei muito do blog e tenho dificuldades com a pronuncia e audição, alguma dica?
Obrigada!!
Viviane,
Obrigado pelo comentário. Confira dicas de pronúncia na categoria “Pronúncia Perfeita”:
http://www.englishexperts.com.br/category/pronuncia-perfeita/
Bons estudos!
[...] to this point I have discussed; the ellipsis, agreement of nouns and verbs, types of sentences, and now the paragraph and essays. If you put all these together you will begin [...]
Caro leitor,
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