Most count nouns in English form their plural by adding a sibilant sound written as -s or -es. Plurals formed this way are called regular plurals. Some nouns form their plural in other ways. They are called irregular plurals. | 118 Verb Phrases Two other verbs have irregular pronunciations in the third-person singular do duw rhymes with two does doz rhymes with buzz say sey rhymes with gay says sez rhymes with fez Exercise 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 oz . Write the third-person singular form of the noun in the s z or oz column depending on its pronunciation. 1. Singular form reach race s z 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 az reaches Basic Verb Forms 119 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 Base Third-person singular 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 Base Third-person singular snow bring result snows ends in vowel brings ends in voiced consonant results ends in voiceless consonant The only possible confusion is with verbs that end in a final silent e. For example give strike relate complete gives strikes relates completes At first glance the final 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 final silent e -s. The spelling of .
