Page 618 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

All regular verbs follow the pattern above. Using the sample above as
a model, fill in the forms of the verb sing in the spaces below.

Singular Plural

First person I we

Second person you you

Third person he, she, it they

Did you remember to put the s on the third-person singular form?

Notice that it is only in the third person that the singular form is

different from the plural form. Notice, too, that the third-person verb

pattern is exactly the opposite of the pattern you see in nouns. When

you look at the noun cat, you know that it is singular and that the plural
form is cats. But verbs in the present tense, third person work in

exactly the opposite way. The third-person singular form of the verb

ends in s, not the plural form. When you see the verb walks, you know

it is singular because it ends in s.

Examples of Subject-Verb Agreement in the

Present Tense, Third Person

A third-person singular subject and verb usually follow the pattern

shown below:

The cat walks. (The singular noun does not end in s; the singular

verb does end in s.)