I've noticed that, despite the limited verb morphology in English, learners of the language often forget to add the 's' on third person singular verbs. I wonder why when it can't be hard to learn this one variation. But I've also noticed that those same people are less likely to use the wrong verb ending in other languages they are learning, such as German. For instance, I have seen posts by people who are learning both English and German as a foreign language, where they get the Geman third person singular verb form right, but not the English. I wonder why. Maybe it's because the bare verb is seen so much more in English, it's more difficult to remember to add that little 's'. It's just that the error rate seems disproportionate.
Learners' mistakes in English and other languages' verbs
I forget sometimes to add the final -s to the tird person , maybe the simplicity of the English verbs has its influence on it, I can't tell about German. Anyway, that -s doesn't add too much grammatical information, why don't you wipe it out from the English language?
<< why don't you wipe it out from the English language? >>
Because that would be impossible.
Because that would be impossible.
I also don't understand this mistake. It's one of the first things people learn, and it's so god damned simple, how can people forget it?
<<Because that would be impossible. >>
Why is that impossible -- surely there must be some dialects somewhere that don't add the 's' on these verbs? All we need is for those dialects to spread worldwide.
Why is that impossible -- surely there must be some dialects somewhere that don't add the 's' on these verbs? All we need is for those dialects to spread worldwide.
<surely there must be some dialects somewhere that don't add the 's' on these verbs? >
WRONG
WRONG
You can't really control the spread of a dialect, nor can you make a new change to an existing one. The great difficulty in such matters is making people care. Nobody will.
<<I also don't understand this mistake. It's one of the first things people learn, and it's so god damned simple, how can people forget it?>>
That's because the human brain expects regularity when it comes to languages. In English most verb have no variation depending on the person, except with the third person singular at the present tense. It takes to build a solid "counter-reflex" in your brain in order not to forget this "s".
Of course in theory most learners know when and where they should put this "s". But when you are writing or speaking, you can't pause every five seconds to think about grammar and conjugation. You have to rely on your reflexes.
That's because the human brain expects regularity when it comes to languages. In English most verb have no variation depending on the person, except with the third person singular at the present tense. It takes to build a solid "counter-reflex" in your brain in order not to forget this "s".
Of course in theory most learners know when and where they should put this "s". But when you are writing or speaking, you can't pause every five seconds to think about grammar and conjugation. You have to rely on your reflexes.
If people can't learn where a simple 's' goes how the hell do people learn languages like Russian, where every single word declines in a million ways...
Yes. You are right. Difficult languages will not be true international languages.
For example, Russian and German are difficult languages for Latin European countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
German and Russian have this important problem. The same with Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, of course.
For example, Russian and German are difficult languages for Latin European countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
German and Russian have this important problem. The same with Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, of course.
>>If people can't learn where a simple 's' goes how the hell do people learn languages like Russian, where every single word declines in a million ways... <<
That was my point. German verb conjugation, while simpler than that of the Romance languages, is more complex than English. Yet, while people make some errors, they do not tend to mess it up all over the place. For example, I don't believe it's that common for learners of German to say, for example, 'Er gehen' instead of 'Er geht'. It sounds obviously wrong. But maybe that's just it, it doesn't sound quite so obvioulsy wrong in English, because you hear the bare form of the verb used as a finite so much more.
That was my point. German verb conjugation, while simpler than that of the Romance languages, is more complex than English. Yet, while people make some errors, they do not tend to mess it up all over the place. For example, I don't believe it's that common for learners of German to say, for example, 'Er gehen' instead of 'Er geht'. It sounds obviously wrong. But maybe that's just it, it doesn't sound quite so obvioulsy wrong in English, because you hear the bare form of the verb used as a finite so much more.
<surely there must be some dialects somewhere that don't add the 's' on these verbs? >
>>WRONG<<
It's not wrong, the Norfolk dialect, at least, doesn't add it. So you will hear for example:
'He go', 'She want' or 'He do like that'
>>WRONG<<
It's not wrong, the Norfolk dialect, at least, doesn't add it. So you will hear for example:
'He go', 'She want' or 'He do like that'
<<It's not wrong, the Norfolk dialect, at least, doesn't add it. So you will hear for example:
'He go', 'She want' or 'He do like that' >>
When you write the Norfolk dialect, do you include the silent 's' on the end of these verbs, or leave it out?
In Norfolk, do they also say "He are" or "He be", and "He have"?
'He go', 'She want' or 'He do like that' >>
When you write the Norfolk dialect, do you include the silent 's' on the end of these verbs, or leave it out?
In Norfolk, do they also say "He are" or "He be", and "He have"?
<<Speakers of Ebonics (AAVE) often leave off the "s". >>
This is different: it's a pronunciation problem, not a grammatical one. They are not modifying/simplifying the verb--rather, they are failing to pronounce the final -s (here as a -z sound), which extends to all words ending in -z ('hi-e' instead of 'hiz' ("his"), 'thi-eng'/'theing' instead of 'thingz' ("things"), 'bi-[e]-nes' instead of 'biznes' ("business", here the final true -s sound is voiced), etc.
loss of -s will not happen anytime soon. It's too instinctual for most of us, esp. native speakers.
This is different: it's a pronunciation problem, not a grammatical one. They are not modifying/simplifying the verb--rather, they are failing to pronounce the final -s (here as a -z sound), which extends to all words ending in -z ('hi-e' instead of 'hiz' ("his"), 'thi-eng'/'theing' instead of 'thingz' ("things"), 'bi-[e]-nes' instead of 'biznes' ("business", here the final true -s sound is voiced), etc.
loss of -s will not happen anytime soon. It's too instinctual for most of us, esp. native speakers.