In the English language how do verbs forms their plural and singular forms?

Answer 1

I assume you mean other than by adding an ending (eg s). Mouse becomes mice etc.

This is because the word comes from another (often Germanic) language where it was normal for a plural to be formed by changing the root of the word.

Answer 2

Most singular words in English are changed to plural by simply adding s. * examples: The singular boy becomes the plural boys. desk becomes desks, hand becomes hands. Some situations that do not follow that rule are: * plurals for numbers, letters or signs are formed with an apostrophy and an /s/, For example, A = A's, 8 = 8's and + = +'s. Example sentence: She got one A, 2 B's and a C on her report card. * plurals for nouns ending in sh, ch, s, x and z are made by adding /es/ to the singular. For example, one bush, two bushes, one bunch, two bunches, one dress, two dresses, one box, two boxes, one buzz, two buzzes. * nouns that end with /f/ or /fe/ are formed in 2 ways. If the final /f/ has the traditional /f/ sound, just ad /s/. one goof, two goofs, one chief, two chiefs. If the final /f/ sounds like a /v/ in the plural form, change /f/ to /v/ and add /es/. one knife, two knives, one loaf, two loaves, one wolf, two wolves. * plurals for nouns ending in a consonant + y are made plural by changing the /y/ to /i/ and adding /es/. one bunny, two bunnies, one city, two cities. * plurals for nouns ending in a vowel + y are formed by adding only /s/. For example, one monkey, two monkeys, one turkey, two turkeys, one key, two keys. * There are a few irregular plurals in English which do not follow the rules above. These forms, unfortunately, just be memorized. Here's a partial list of them: * one mouse, two mice * one man, two men * 1 child, 2 children * 1 deer, 2 deer (no change) * 1 goose, 2 geese * 1 tooth, 2 teeth * 1 woman, 2 women

Answer 3

In English the conjugation of verbs in the singular and plural depends on the 'person' that is used.

For example

Present Tense of run, (regular verb)

Singular:

1st person: I run

2nd person You run

3rd person: He, she, it (John, Mary, the car engine etc) runs.

Plural:

1st person: We run

2nd person You run

3rd person: They run

You can see that, for regular verbs, only the verb form for the 3rd person singular changes, usually by adding -s.

Spelling of 3rd person singular for particular word endings:

Verbs ending with consonant + y: change the y to i and add -es, e.g. cry ->cries

Verbs ending with -s, -z, -ch, -sh, -x: add -es,e.g. watch -> watches

Exceptions:

have -> has

go -> goes

do -> does

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IRREGULAR VERBS

Verb forms for the plural and singular present tense of most irregular verbs follow the same rules as above, with the notable exception of 'to be', which has its own rules:

Singular

1st person: I am

2nd person: You are

3rd person: He/she/it (John, Mary, the sky etc) is

Plural

1st person: We are

2nd person: You are

3rd person: They are

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NOTE

The past and future tense form for regular and most irregular verbs does not change for singular or plural.

e.g.

Past: I ran, you ran, he ran, she ran, they ran, we all ran!

Future: I (you, he, she, it, we, they) will run.

Exception: 'to be'

Singular: I was, you were, he/she/it was

Plural: We (you, they) were

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