The three (or 4) famous 'end-s(es)‘ of the English grammar – Die drei (oder vier) berühmt(-berüchtigt)en ‚end-s‘ der Englischen Grammatik

  Um möglichen Missverständnissen vorzubeugen...»»

They are 'breaking' the doubling rule of end-consonants after a (short) vole in stressed syllables. – In diesen Fällen wirkt die Verdoppelungsregel für End-Konsonanten nach (kurzem) betontem Vokal nicht (selbst wo die [vollständige] Silbe ‚es‘ angehängt wird)

The verb's or predicate's additional-‘s‘ in case of the third person singular (only but) in all Present Tenses.
Das ‚s‘ an den Verben (Zeit- bzw. Tätigkeitswörter) bzw. Prädikaten in der dritten Person (aber nur) Einzahl bei allen englischen Zeitformvarianten der 'Gegenwart'.

«He, she, it – no ‘s‘ is shit!» - Aber auch: «die Türe/ein Kind» ist ‚es‘ und «die Präsidentin» ist ‚sie‘.

«He, she, it – (ein) ‚s‘ muss mit!» - But «the dog/a car» is ‘it‘ and «Mr. Miller» ‘he‘.

SPO - Subject Predicate (and perhaps) Object(s - 'MPT'):

3^rd person/thing verb & (e)s object «He bows to her.» (Simple Present Tense Er (ver)beugt sich (vor) ihr [einmalig (dies kann auch, und zwar dann mit dem Ausdruck 'grösst(ausdrucks-)möglicher' Eintrittsgewissheit, in der Zukunft liegen) oder wiederholt bzw. immer sein]. – In Passive Voice e.g.: It is played. Passivisch: Es wird gespielt.)

3^rd person/thing (p - to be & s =>) is & (present participle =>) main verb & ing object «He is bowing to her.» [compare the more certain future forms: He is going to bow to her. etc.] (Present Continuous/Progressive Tense Er ist [gerade] dabei sich (vor) ihr zu (ver)beugen [respektive beabsichtigt dies, und zwar mit recht hoher (Eintritts-)Wahrscheinlichkeit (beim Gebrauch der 'schwächeren' Formulierung: «is going to» hat er immerhin schon zuvor einmal darüber nachgedacht es ) zu tun]. – In Passive Voice e.g.: It is being played. Es wird [gerade] gespielt.)

3^rd person/thing (to have '&' s =>) has & (past participle =) 3^rd-form of main verb object «He has bowed to her.» (Present Perfect Tense – Passive Voice e.g.: It has been played [by Mozart]. Es ist [von Mozart] gespielt worden.)

3^rd person/thing (to have '&' s =>) has & (past participle of to be - 3^rd-form of p =) been & (present participle =>) main verb & ing object «He has been bowing to her.» (Present Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense Er hat/te sich (vor) ihr (verbeugt) gebeugt [was noch irgendwelche Auswirkungen -, nun sichtbare Folgen und/oder anschliessende Konsequenzen - hat]. – Passive Voice e.g.: It has been playing [all night]. Es ist [die ganze Nacht hindurch] gespielt worden.)

Please, do not-'s' the (3^rd person's [singular]) Subjunctive, Past, Will/Shall-Future and Conditional Tenses (or the participles themselves) - especially (not) the modal auxiliaries: «He must go now.» «A bottle can break.» «She may play that game.» «She ought to finish it soon.» And be careful with 'need': «She need not come» only shortens: «She doesn't need/have to come» but: «She needs some food!» Be aware of (the fist of all British) Plural Verbs with Singular Subjects. Others shall have to ... ... for you/that.

Something about spelling ('these' 's'):

At/after words ending in '*ch' / '*(s)s' / '*sh' / '*x' / '*z' or '*i' (especially coming from a 'former' '*y') add ‘-es‘ (brushes, boxes, churches, chintzes, faxes, masses, princesses, babies etc.); some end-'o' needs ‘-es‘, too - you'll possibly have to 'learn' (memorize) those (especially: buffaloes, cargoes [or: cargos], does, dominoes, echoes, goes, grottoes, haloes, heroes, mangoes, mosquitoes, mottoes [or: mottos], Negroes, potatoes, tomatoes, tornadoes, torpedoes (!), vetoes, volcanoes). But - it may help a bit, that vole and end-o combinations only get simple 's': photos, radios, pianos, studios and tobaccos.

Sollen/müssen Wörter die auf '*ch' / '*(s)s' / '*sh' / '*x' / '*z' oder '*i' (vgl. unten y-Regel) enden um ein 's' ergänzt werden, so ist '-es' anzufügen (B/bürsten, Schachteln, Kirchen, Chinize, Faxe/n, Massen, Fürstinnen/Prinzessinnen, etc.), selbiges gilt für einige mit einem 'o' endende englische Begriffe (Büffel, Ladungen/Güter, tun, abhängige Gebiete, Echo/hallen, gehen, Grotten, [Licht]Höfe/[Glorien- und] Heiligenscheine/Auren, Helden, Mangos, Moskitos, Mottos/Schlag- bzw. Leitwörter, Neger [sic!], Kartoffeln, Tomaten, Tornados, Torpedos, Vetos/Einsprüche, Vulkane). Nicht aber bei: Fotos, Radios, Pianos, Studios und Tabaks/Tabake (Faustregel: die auch im Deutschen mit einem Mehrzahl-s üblich/zumutbar sind respektive wo das end-o auf einen Vokal folögt).

Expresions ending in '*f' or '*fe' are mostly transformed in '*ves'-endings (calf -> calves, half -> halves, knife -> knives, leaf -> leaves, life -> lives, loaf -> loaves, shelf -> shelves, thief -> thieves, wife -> wives, wolf -> wolves, self -> selves ; but important exceptions are: beliefs, chiefs, handkerchiefs, cliffs, dwarfs, griefs, gulfs, proofs, roofs, safes). More about spelling (traps).

Ausdrücke, die am Ende mit '*f' oder '*fe' geschrieben wurden verändern sich mit 's' meistens zur Endung '*ves' (Kälber/Waden, Hälften, Messer, Blätter/Flügel, Leben, [Brot-]Laibe. Bretter/Regale, Diebe, [Ehe-]Frauen, Wölfe, Selbst[s]), aber es gibt wichtige Ausnahmen wie: Überzeugungen/die Glauben, Chefs, Taschentücher, Klippen/Felswände, Liliputaner/Zwerge, [Be-]Kümmernis[e], Golf[e]/Klüfte, Beweise / Abzüge, Dächer, Geldschränke. Mehr Orthographie.

The nouns‘ plural-s at, in this respect, regular substantives.
Das Mehrzahl-s, insofern regelmässiger Substantive (Hauptwörter).

image © cioyreight by N.N.

(singular)noun & (e)s

Be careful, please (remember the y-rule:) lady, ladies, baby, babies, boy, boys ... (lat./gr.) bacterium, bacteria ... axis, axes ...... woman /'·Š­Ù®/ women /'·ê­ê®/, man men, child, children ... Attention! (keep) sheep (unchanged – but:) catch a fish and catch two fishes so you'll have caught a (perhaps a small) lot of fish (!) and you've to handle 'hair' equally .... (uncountable singulars) ... bagpipes (even against some Langenscheid Editions - but:) bagpipe player(s) bagpiper(s) ...

The possessive ‘s’ in Genetiv-constructions, after the apostrophe, and it’s (often) ‘missing’ counterpart at the end of nouns already ending in 'plural-s'.
Das besitzanzeigende ‚s‘ des/im Genetiv, nach dem Hochkomma, und sein (häufig) ausgelassenes Gegenüber am Ende von Substantiven die bereits auf/mit/in 'Plural-s' enden.

noun (without [pliral-]end-'s') & 's / noun (ending in) 'plural-s' & '(s)

«These dresses' bows look much better, now. But – I'm sorry - this last bow's colour doesn't go so well with that one.» The children's toys are ... But listen: The princesses dresses are something to wear for all the girls here, and the Princess's dresses are only the dresses of (Her Royal Highness) the Princess, too.

But (proper nouns ending in a sibilant add the apostrophe plus 's') you also find: «St. James's Palace» and its(! - this Palace's) Park in Central London (a few other orthographical variants on earth), and (probably a bit more regularly - the so important) Possessiv( pronoun)s: yours, hers, his, its, ours, yours, theirs – whose et. al., connected without apostrophe (but 1^st person singular's is: mine - without any 's'; and never ever muddle them up with: it's - to be [p], or who's, please!).

Viele englisch Orts, Mass- und Zeitangaben erfordern den Genetiv obwohl ihnen das Nomen bzw. die Tätigkeit allenfalls höchst indirekt zugehören mag. She got that meet at the butcher's. Yes, Mary was 'a little' tied after the twenty mile's route march with full kit So she had a two hour's rest here, before she – a Sunday's child - went on for the two other miles home, but now in her nice Sunday best dress.

And finally you may sometimes avoid this situation by connecting with 'of' (while putting the possession at the first and the possessor at the second position - in your own clauses).

Vermeiden lässt sich solches (in selbstverfassten Texten) manchmal durch den Gebrauch der Alternative, 'den Besitz/das Besessene' durch ein 'of' mit 'dem/der/den' - dann nachzustellenden - 'Besitzerin[nen]/Besitzer[n]' zu verbinden. «After the full kit matsch of twenty miles, most of the girls and boys need a rest,» But ... Allerdings ....

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

Words giving a further description of other expressions (by naming 'their' characteristics) are (mostly) either called 'adverbs' or, in case of 'belonging'/reflecting to a/the noun(s or special verbs), 'adjectives'.
Etwas über Wörter, die andere Begriffe näher beschreiben sollen (indem sie 'ihre' Merkmale benennen) respektive Sätze ergänzen oder nähere Umstände beschreiben.

We use an adjective to give an additional information on a noun (especially as subject or object of a clause), it may be placed at two different positions: But «He is an ill man.» Isn't exactly the same as saying: «He (the/a man) is ill.» The adjective is either put directly in front of the noun or it follows the verb that describes (be, become, get, keep, seem, look etc.) the state of that noun (too). An adverb gives an additional description of an expression, situation or action. - But actually 'its' Majesty the Verb commands the language(s). Adverbs (adverbial qualifications - may step out of line and) are placed according to their mission and kind:

(adverbs may step out of line) Nach bestimmten Verben (Zustandsverben, die also keine Handlung, sondern einen Zustand beschreiben – zu denen allerdings auch Werden zählt) darf das englische Adjektiv nicht zum Adverb werden, obwohl es (mindestens scheinbar) das Verb näher bestimmt. It sounds good (not: well). Weitere derartige Zustandsverben: to become werden; to feel sich fühlen; to get bekommen; to keep bleiben, halten; to look als aussehen; to remain bleiben; to seem scheinen; to smell riechen; to sound klingen; to stay bleiben; halten; to taste schmecken; ... wird das Prädikat aus einem Hilfsverb (bzw. mit to be) und einem Adjektiv gebildet bleibt letzteres 'adjektivisch' erhalten ....

... to describe a main verb, the word (adverb or adjective) follows after that Majesty (the verb): «(No Sir, please - Tom is a very slow, defensive driver!) He does always drive [adv.] slowly, every limit is kept. - Just yesterday, he drove as [adv.] well and [adv.] fast as you wouldn't beliefe your eyes! (I assure you constable: only to show us girls, how to handle my fast car appropriately.)»
But if that verb is 'describing a state', bow and use the corresponding adjective ('instead of its adverb-form'), there! ....

... to describe an adjective or another adverb it (the specifying additional adverb) has to be placed in front of that word ....

... Adverbien der Art und Weise (beautifully, quickly, rudely, well etc.) stehen normalerweise am 'Satzende' (SPOMPT) – dürfen nicht zwischen Verb (d.b. Prädikat) und direktes Objekt geraten. ....

... Adverbien des Grades (extremely, extraordinarily, absolutly, fairly, pretty, rather, quite, very, terribly, especially, really, particularly, much, a bit, etc.) stehen vor dem näher zu bestimmenden Wort ...

... Adverbien der Häufigkeit unterscheiden sich hinsichtlich ihres Bestimmtheitsgrades. Adverbien der unbestimmten Häufigkeit – indefinite frequency (always, frequently, never, often, rarely, seldom, sometimes occasionally, etc.) stehen in der 'Mitte' mid-position unmittelbar vor dem Vollverb und drirekt nach be. vor dem 'konjugierten Verb', nach dem ersten Hilfs- oder Modalverb (in complex tenses) and after to be .... ....

Adverbien der bestimmten Häufigkeit – definite frequency (annually, daily, every Monday, twice a week, yearly etc.) stehen hingegen – wie andere Zeitangaben' - am Satzende (oder schon auch mal als dessen Beginn).

... Adverbien und adverbiale Bestimmungen der Zeit und des Ortes (sowie: in fact, unfortunately, luckily, of cause, perhaps, actually) gehören entweder an dan Satzanfang oder sein Ende – gemeinsam nebeneinander stehen 'Ort und Zeit' allerdings nur am Ende (SPOMPT) und zwar untereinander in der Reihenfolge: ... place ... before time ..... und darunter vom Allgemeineren zum Spezielleren.

... Satzadverbien – sentence adverbs (as a rule, generally speaking, luckily, naturally, of couse, on the whole, perhaps, (un)fortunately etc.) die einen ganzen Satz bestimmen stehen im Englischen am Anfang (ohne Veränderung von SPO).

The (trans)forming of (adjectives in[to]) adverbs ...
Die Umwandlung von englischen Adjektiven (Eigenschaftswörtern 'für Nomen') in Adverbien (Eigenschaftsangaben für Nicht-Hauptwörter) ...

To keep it too simple: Add 'ly' to the adjective and you have the adverb. But, of cause, there are some important specialities (and spelling traps):

Adjectives ending in '*ic' require '*ically' (e.g. automatic -> automatically) with the exception of: publicly. Also care for and compare the 'y', the other 'ly', the 'silent-e' (which is kept in many adverbs – by the way:: some grammar books call that case the exeption) and the doubling /'singling' spelling-rules 'downstairs'.

Endet bereits das Adjektiv auf *ly (cowardly - feige, deadly - tödlich, lonely - einsam, lovely - liebenswert, ugly - hässlich etc.), so muss das Adverb mit einer Umschreibung gebildet werden: "in a ... way", "in a ... manner". «Our receptionists should always speak to customers in a friendly manner. (Die zulässige Alternative etwa: A receptionist should always be friendly to customers.)» «Well our girls are mostly OK but the boys too often behave in a silly way. (oder Most of our girls are OK but too many of the boys are often silly. etc. eignet sich bekanntlich nur höchst selten für vorgegebene Lückentexte in Prüfungen.)» «You can hardly expect the headmistress to accept this behaviour.»

Manche Adverbien haben die gleiche Form wie das/ihr Adjektiv, bei manchen Wörtern tritt ansonsten (d.h. durch ein Anhängen von '-ly') eine Bedeutungsveränderung ein:

«I work hard on that.» Ich arbeite schwer daran.

«She hardly works.» Sie arbeitet kaum.

Wichtige unveränderte englische Adjektive (d.h. sie sind) = (wie ihre) Adverbien: early - früh; far – weit (entfernt); fast - schnell; long - lang(e); low - tief; : close - nah(e); direct - direkt; free - kostenlos; hard - schwer; high - hoch; just - gerade, soeben; late - spät; near - nahe; pretty - ziemlich, erheblich; wide – weit (etc.).

Bedeutungsveränderung (dieser Adverbien desselben Wortstammes mit/durch '*ly'): closely - genau, sorgfältig; directly - sofort; freely - freizügig; hardly - kaum; highly - sehr viel, höchst- (im abstrakten Sinne); justly - gerecht, rechtmäßig; lately - neulich, in letzter Zeit; nearly - beinahe, fast; prettily - hübsch; widely - weit verbreitet (usw.).

A very special adjective is 'good' but its adverb sounds (and is spelt/spelled): 'well'. «She is extremely good at school and she rides very well.» Beachten Sie jedoch: 'to be well' = 'gesund sein' und die hier im Englischen für Adjektiv und Adverb übereinstimmenden 'unregelmäßigen' Steigerungsformen ('better' und 'best'). «I didn't go to work because I wasn't well yesterday. But yes, thank you Madame, it is a very good medicine, I do fell much better, today» «Good girl, you are quite right, we'll hardly find a better remedy for that kind of illness!»

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

Comparison: the positive, the comparative and the superlative of adjectives and adverbs (both kinds of words only have this kind of infection in English).
Die Steigerungsformen und -möglichkeiten der Adjektive und Adverbien (im Englisch erfahren diese beiden Wortarten nur diese Art von Flektionen).

 'Short' adjectives (and adverbs with the same form), made of only one syllable and those consisting of two syllables if they are ending in: '*er', '*le', '*y' and '*ow', add '-er' (for comparative) or '-est' (for superlative)......Care for the spelling-rules!

But (the 'regular') adverbs ending in '*ly' and all the other ('longer' – more than one syllable) adjectives (and adverbs) form their comparative with 'more/less' and their superlative with 'most/least' as a separated word in front of them. ...

Important irregular ones are : well (the adverb - or as the adjective meaning healthy) – better – best and: good (the adjetive) - better - best; badly (the adverb) – worse – worst and: bad (the adjetive) – worse – worst; ill (the adjetive) – worse – worst; far (both, adjective and adverb have the same forms) – further – farthest/furthest; and the irregular adjectives: much/many – more – most; little – less – least; near – nearer – nearest/next; old – older/elder – oldest/eldest. With their specific meanings and use .....

How to use the comparison in sentences .... positiv .... comparative .... superlative ....'the ... the' .... ' ...er (more) and ... er (more)' .... 'most (=very)' .... and you may repeat the auxiliary verb at the ende of the clause. ...

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

Some (more) spelling rules of orthography ...
Ein paar (weitere) orthographische Regeln der 'Rechtschreibung' ...

 The doubling and 'singling' (its opponent) of consonants.
Die (englische) Verdoppelung von Konsonanten und ihr 'Gegenteil'. .

If a word ends in a single consonant after a single, short and stressed (emphatic) vowel and if the additional syllable starts with a 'vocal' (the 'vowel-y' included, but «the teacher faxes» that '-es' is excluded), too – than you double (the beforehand last) consonant compare British-American differences ... (stop -> stopped, fog -> foggy, hot -> hotter, fun -> funny, bob -> bobbing).

Don't double consonants following double, long and/or unstressed vowels (look -> looked, develop -> developing, etc.) – if it isn't in case of a single '*l', getting the '-ly' (of adverbs, who may step out of line): awful -> awfully, wonderful -> wonderfully, careful -> carefully, real -> really etc..

Please do not double if the addition starts of with a(n other) consonant (apart from '-ly') itself – but be aware of 'endings' in double-'l's (*ll), you'll have to drop ('single' them) some sometimes:

all (There are all her girls. - But: always, already, almost, also, although – and keep «all right» separated) full (The basket was full of bread. - But: beautiful, awful, wonderful, [skill + full ->] skilful, [full + fill ->] fulfil) till (They atended the meeting till noon. - But: until) well (He sang well. But: welcome, welfare – and care for «farewell» and «well-known»). Avoid tripeling, too (full + ly -> fully).

And keep the double-'l's ('*ll') if you add '-ness' (fullness, wellness, etc.)

The silent 'e' as beforehand last letter ...
Das stumme 'e' als zuvor letzter Buchstabe ...

... is dropped if you add a syllable beginning with a vowel (such as: '-able', '-al', '-ance', '-ed', '-er', '-est', '-ing', etc.) to have + ing = having, ice + y = icy, nice + er = nicer. Some adverbs have lost it, too. You may already know: whole -> wholly; true -> truly, simple -> simply; but also compare the next item, please.

... is kept if you add a syllable beginning with a consonant (such as: '-ful', '-less', '-ly', '-ment', '-ness', etc.) Expl.: care + ful = careful, move + ment = movement; extreme + ly = extremely, completely, nicely; excite + ment = excitement But: whole -> wholly, true -> truly and a consonant in front of former '*le' causes just simple '*ly' (simply).

But – of cause – keep (the sounding) double-'e'(s) ('*ee') when adding '*able' or '*ing' (agreeable, seeing).

Das (hörbare) Doppel-'e' am Wortende bleibt beim Anfügen von *ing oder *able - konsequenterweise - erhalten (agreeing; aber nur poetisch: seeable).

How to ‘spell‘ – better don‘t say, but do: ‘write‘ here - the (very special English 'vowel') ‘Y‘.
Die (englischen) Y-Regel(n).

Either, if the end-'y' follows onto a vowel (in the original word) it is kept as 'y', careless what is added after it. But (adverbs may step out of line) day becomes daily.

 Or, if the end-'y' follows onto a consonant (in the original word) it is transformed into an 'i' – if an '-s' has to be added it goes '*ies' – before replenishing something. Happy -> happily. But shy goes (as adverbs may step out of line) shyly and adding '-ing' always keeps the 'y', too.

But (/So) never change the (former) end-'y' if followed by '-ing' for Gerunds and/or Present Participles – you mostly (yes, its 'skiing' and no 'skying') avoid doubling an 'i' in English spelling (drying, playing etc.).

And the teacher says: that 'irregular' verbs like to say, to lay and to pay have their special Past Tense / Past Participle (said, laid, paid) – but adding (Present Tenses') 3^rd Person's Singular '-s', '-ing', '-er' etc. to the infinitive is paying to our rules.

'Unregelmässige' Verben (wie sagen. Legen und [be]zahlen) unterliegen (aus teils mehreren Gründen) nur hinsichtlich der Vergangenheitsform und ihres Mittelwortes einer (besonderen) Änderung des Ypsilons für Modifikationen iher Grundform (der Infinitive) gelten die bekannten / hier genannten Regeln.

image © copyright by N.N.

The daily (daily) exceptional case never dies (out) – Täglich (putzend)e Ausnahmen gibt es ‚immer‘:

To die (dies), died, died, dying. [compare: lie and tie etc., too] - But: It is 'the death' - and the inevitable noun ‘die’ (with a/the different meaning!) has it’s special plural: «The dice are cast!» - Arn’t they, Lady Di(e)? - Gajus Julis Caesar may have used the singular – and never forget its important complementary counterpart: (to live your): life!. And 'our' adjective 'icy' of 'ice' pays - more ore less - to the same idea, too.
Streben (er,sie,es stirbt), starb, gestorben, sterbend [so auch engl.: lügen und (ver/um)binden]. - Allerdings das Sterben (ist im Englischen zugleich der/die[das] Tote sowie der Tod) – und ein dennoch unvermeidliche Gebrauch von «die» als Nomen bezeichnet bekanntlich den Würfel. ‚Cäsars‘ vorgeblicher, so bekannter Spruch bezieht sich übrigens nur auf einen davon: «alea iacta est» und solle bedeuten, dass etwas beschlossen (und wohl bereits so gut wie im Begriff der Ausfühung – eben wirklich entschieden) sei... vergesst (also) nie sein wichtiges komplementäres Gegenüber, das Leben (zu leben)! Und 'unser' englisches Adjektiv 'eissig' zu 'Eis' folgt in etwa dem selben Prinzip.

Never say die!

Das Glücksspiel ist kaum zu empfehlen.

Nur nicht aufgeben!

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

The ... English Languages are not phonetic ....
Der/die/das ... Varianten des Englischen sind keine (streng) phonetisch geschriebenen Sprache(n) . ...

«It's hard to know now: whether the wether cares for the weather or not!» Say/sprich: ê´s ¨ÑФ ´Ù ®ÙŠ ®ÙŠ '·¥“Ù(²) “Ù '·¥“Ù(²) «¥Ù(²)s ¦Ù(²) “Ù '·¥“Ù(²) ÔÐ(²) ®Ò´ Es ist eben wirklich kaum zu sagen, ob sich der Hammel jetzt ums Wetter schert oder ob eben nicht.

... but there are a lot of homophones and similar sounding expressions.
... aber es gibt eine Menge gleich oder ähnlich kingende Worte.

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

The rules to form English tenses are very simple. There are just a few exceptions and specialities: «'Every' tense consists of helping verb(s) (auxiliary) and a main verb (or a combined phrase with them).» - But ...
Die Bildungsregeln der englischen 'Tenses' sind recht einfach. Es gibt nur wenige Ausnahmen und Besonderheiten: «'Alle' sogenannten Zeiten (genauer: die Tempora) werden aus Hilfsverb(en) und einem Vollverb (genauer dem Voll- respektive Hauptverb bzw. einer damit verbundenen ganzen Phrase) gebildet.» – Aber ...

But there is a very important difference separating tense from time.

But 1^st in simple (active) tenses (of present, past and the – especially in British English - rarer subjunctive) the helping verb may be left out in not emphasised positive statements. - Even if it otherwise does most of the work to ask, to say it negative, and to show us the tense. Please add the 3^rd person's singular-s of Simple Present Tense to the main verb then – but you needn't for singular nouns with plural verbs as subject (e.g. in: «The British government like you to do that.»), and you mustn't modify any subjunctive nor 's' any of the modal auxiliaries.

Aber 1.) in 'einfachen', Tempora (der Gegenwart, Vergangenheit und des eher selteneren 'echten' englischen Konjunktivs) kann das 'Helferlein' – das ansonsten die 'ganze' Arbeit des Fragens und Verneinens (sowie weitgehend auch der Tempus-Angabe) machen muss – im Aktiv positiver Aussagen entfallen (in der Gegenwart muss das 's' für die dritte Person Einzahl dann - ausser bei singularen Subjekten mit pluralischen Verben und im Subjunctive – orthographie-regelgerecht ans 'Vollverb' selbst angehängt werden; vgl. unten 2.).

But 2^nd please remember the additional 's' in all (but not subjunctive or modal auxiliary) tenses only for the 3^rd person singular: «He, she it - no 's' is shit!» counts for 'Tom', 'the baby' or 'Miss. Jefferson' etc., too – but of cause not for 'children', 'the Robbertsons' and tables et al. plurals.

Aber 2.) in allen Zeit(form)en des Präsens (Present) muss (allerdings ausser bei den nicht flektierbaren, unvollständigen, modalen Hilfsverben und im Subjunctive – wo es ersatzlos entfällt) ausschiesslich in der dritten Person Einzahl – also nur im Singular! der auch 'Mr. Miller' und 'the/a car' etc. umfasst - ein '(e)s' mitgenommen werden (vgl. Rechtschreibregeln), das falls gar kein Hilfverb verwendet wird, vom Vollverb übernommen werden muss.

But 3^rd 'its' Majesty the main (multi-word or phrasal) verb – King of English Language, your reverences please – may by dropped if we already understand: Did they all (the parts of speech) curtsy to the King? - Yes naturally, they properly did.

Aber 3.) seine Majestät das 'Vollverb' bzw. die damit gebildete Wortkombination oder Phrase selbst kann, wo das damit Gemeinte implizit verstanden wird, entfallen.

But 4^th 'to be' – never properly knowing what it actually wants to get - p is always very special. .......

Aber 4.) das so fleissige 'to be' p tanzt immer mal etwas aus der Reihe und hat zahlreiche Funktionen zu erfüllen. . Im Present (am / are / is), Past (was / were) und Participle (being, been, having been) weist es zahlreiche Konjugationsformen auf (die im Subjunctive auch noch aufgehoben bzw. 'verdreht' werden).

The conjugation and use of 'will' and 'to have' may be a bit surprising, too. Not only that 'they' have lost the British 'got' as part of the main verb 'to have', back there, and mostly use 'gotten' as past participle – but also the whole perfect is used more sparingly in America. Regarding to combinations with modal auxiliaries, we've seen the 'could have' and even the 'could had' type-variants - but no 'can had', yet. There is no orderly infinitive of the incomplete modal verbs: 'Will' is conjugated as 'shall' in the first persons, if facts are concerned. We use 'should' - as its 'past tense' - in the second and third persons, for more intensive intentions. And 'will' or 'would' - in the same case - for the first persons. 'Woun't' (wouldn't) and 'shan't' (shouldn't) are the short forms of 'will not' (would not) and 'shall not' (should not), but 'willing' means to be prepare or ready to do something (not necessarily wanting to do it).

Die Konjugation bzw. der Gebrauch des weiteren temporalen vollständigen Hilfsverbs 'to have' und des unvollständigen Modalverbs 'will' im.... So manche der (insbesondere hier grau) aufgeführten Varianten mag - von Fachbüchern einmal abgesehen – eher selten bzw. nie oder allenfalls in Dichtung respektive Prosa Verwendung finden.

infinitive

'with to' / present

Not every tense always uses its auxiliary.

base (1^st) form (with to):
to wash
to sing

base (1^st) form (of 'get' or::)
to be / to get

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

bare / base form / imperative

Not every tense always uses its auxiliary.

base (1^st) form (without 'to'):
wash
sing

base (1^st) form (of 'get' or::)
be / get

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

perfect

to have

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

to have of 'to be':
to have been / to have got(ten)

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

'simple'

present

partly optional:
do (does) / can / may / must / must not / ought (to)

base (1^st) form (without any aux. <- just for 3^rd person singular plus -s):

wash(es)
sing(s)

present of 'to be':
is / am / are – or:
can be / may be / must be / must not be / ought to be

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

past

partly optional:
did & base form->/ could & base form->/ might & base form->/ [had (to & base form->)] / [was or were not allowed (to & base form ->)] / [was or were expected (to & base form ->)]

past (2^nd) form:

washed
sang – or (after an aux. <-) base form:
wash
sing

past of 'to be':
was / were – or:
could be / might be / [had to be] / [was or were not allowed to be] / [was or were expected to be]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

'will-future'

shall (shan't) / will (woun't)

base (1^st) form:
wash
sing

shall be / will be

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

conditional

should / would

base (1^st) form:
wash
sing

should be / would be

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

continuous / progressive

present

present of 'to be':
am / are / is – or:
can be / may be / must be / must not be / ought to be

present participle ('4^th'):

washing
singing

present of 'to be' & being:
am being / are being / is being – or:
can be being / may be being / must be being / must not be being / ought to be being

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

past

past of 'to be':
was / were – or:
could be / might be / [had to be] / [was or were not allowed to be] / [was or were expected to be]

present participle ('4^th'):

washing
singing

past of 'to be' & being:
was being / were being – or:
could be being / might be being / [had to be being] / [was or were not allowed to be being] / [was or were expected to be being]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

'will-future'

shall (shan't) be / will (woun't) be

present participle ('4^th'):
washing
singing

shall (shan't) be being / will (woun't) be being

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

conditional

should be / would be

present participle ('4^th'):
washing
singing

should be being / would be being

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

perfect simple

present

present of 'to have':
have / has – or:
can have / may have / must have / must not have / ought to have]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

present of 'to have' & been:
have been / has been – or:
can have been / may have been / must have been / must not have been / ought to have been]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

past

past of 'to have':
had – or:
could have (or:could had etc.)/ might have / [had to have] / [was or were not allowed to have] / [was or were expected to have]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

past of 'to have' & been:
had been – or:
could have been (or:could had been etc.)/ might have been / [had to have been] / [was or were not allowed to have been] / [was or were expected to have been]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

'will-future'

shall have / will have

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

shall have been / will have been

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

conditional

should have / would have

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

should have been / would have been

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

perfect continuous / perfect progressive

present

present perfect of 'to be':
have been / has been – or:
can have been / may have been / must have been / must not have been] / ought to have been

present participle ('4^th'):

washing
singing

present perfect continuous of 'to be':
have been being / has been being – or:
can have been beeing / may have been being / must have been being / must not have been being / ought to have been being

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

past

past perfect of 'to be':
had been – or:
could have (or: had ...) been / might have been / [had to have been] / [was or were not allowed to have been] / [was or were expected to have been]

present participle ('4^th'):

washing
singing

past perfect continuous of 'to be':
had been being – or:
could have (or: had ...) been being / might have been being / [had to have been being] / [was or were not allowed to have been being] / [was or were expected to have been being]

past participle (3^rd form):

washed
sung

'will-future'

shall have been / will have been

present participle ('4^th'):
washing
singing

shall have been being / will have been being

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

conditional

should have been / would have been

present participle ('4^th'):
washing
singing

should have been being / would have been being

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

subjunctive

present

Not every tense always uses its auxiliary. But in British English we often use should

base (1^st) form:
wash
sing – but for 'to be' only:
be

(should &) bare infinitive of 'to be':
(should) be

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

past

Not every tense always uses its auxiliary. But in British English we often use should

base (1^st) form:
wash
sing – but for 'to be' always:
were (formal) / was (informal)

(should &) past of 'to be':
(should) were (formal) / (should) was (informal)

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

participle

present / (gerund)

Not every tense always uses its auxiliary.

base (1^st) form & -ing:
washing
singing

present participle ('4^th') form of 'to be':
being

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

past

Not every tense always uses its auxiliary.

base (1^st) form & -ed – or irregular:
washed
sung

past participle (3^rd) form of 'to be':
been

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

perfect

present participle ('4^th') form of 'to have':
having

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

present perfect participle ('5^th') form of 'to be':
having been

past participle (3^rd form):
washed
sung

interrogative

(Questionword)

Subject

Object?

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

The ... Indirect and/or reported speach
Der/die/das ... ..

«It's Say/sprich:

... but there
... aber es .

... to be perhaps continued
... wird vielleicht fortgesetzt.

Webster's Online Dictionary
The Rosetta Edition&trade;

There are already many useful (and some worse) web-pages for different kinds of English-studies available. - So we do not intend to add another one here(with) and can't replace a speller (spelling book). – Our didactic intention is a bit different here, anyway.
Es gibt bereits viele hilfreiche (und einige schlechte) Internetseiten zum Englischlernen. - Daher haben wir nicht vor, hier(mit) noch eine weitere zu unterhalten oder gar ein Rechtschreibbuch zu ersetzen. Ohnehin ist unsere didaktische Absicht hier ja etwas anders gelagert.

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englishclub.com (erfreulich vollständig und kompetent - weitgehend kostenlos and, of cause, in English)

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www.enchantedlearning.com englische Gedichte, Sprachübungs- respektive Umwelterkundungsblätter und viel mehr (sehr umfangreich illustriert und vielsprachig [neben Deutsch. Schwedisch, Niderländisch und wichtigen romanischen auch eine vereinfachte japanische Sprachvariante bzw. Übersetzungen des ganzen englischen Bilderlexikons, ein wenig Russisch, Arabisch und Hebräisch kommen auch vor], besonders für den Beginn sowie für Kinder [teils selbst je die noch nicht selbst lesen können] geeignet – und sogar mit recht anspruchvollen englischen Fachlexika einzelner Wissenschaften, die sich zumindest für die schulische Mittelstife eignen).

Faculty of English Language and Literature - University of Oxford (UK)

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School of English and The English Language Teaching Centre – University of St. Andrews (UK)

Faculty of English - University of Cambridge (UK)

English Department - University of Minnesota (USA)

  to some Anglo-American refinements

... about language and style - ... über Sprache und Stil

 to some signal words

... about 'grammar‘ – über ‚Grammatik‘.

Mehr über: Fragen, Ausrufe und Verneinungen.

«To p or not to p, that's the question.»

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by Olaf G. Jahreiss with gratitude to my pupils – especially Christian, Dennis and Sarah -, students as well as the Kleins for some inspiration and good ideas; also with regret for otherwise hardly using the 'internet-language'. All images on these pages are (if not noted otherwise) mostly by courtesy of Stardivision GmbH or our own. - Zuletzt geändert am 20.03.2009.