1. Form Classes Ed McCorduck English 402—Grammar SUNY Cortland http://mccorduck.cortland.edu

2. nouns o definition: any word that takes the characteristic endings of nouns slide 2: nouns English 402: Grammar

3.  the plural ending  -(e)s for regular nouns exx dog – dogs cake – cakes box – boxes (this ending may be pronounced [s] or [z] or as an additional syllable depending on the final sound of the noun it is added to) slide 3: the plural ending for regular nouns English 402: Grammar

4.  no one form (though a few similar ones) for irregular nouns exx mouse – micelouse – lice foot – feetgoose – geese child – childrenman – men fish – fishdeer – deer slide 4: the plural ending for irregular nouns English 402: Grammar regular inflections – follow a predictable pattern irregular inflections – don’t follow a pattern; unpredictable

5.  the possessive ending  -’s added to singular nouns  -s’ added to plural nouns slide 5: the possessive ending English 402: Grammar -’s and -s’ are identical in pronunciation to regular plural ending, leading to “errors” (in the traditional grammar sense) in written language such as “the cars wheels” (= ‘the wheels of the car’ or ‘the wheels of the cars’) and to the contraction –’s of is, leading to errors such as “the mans at the apartment now”

6. verbs o definition: any word that takes the characteristic endings of verbs slide 6: verbs English 402: Grammar

7. five forms for all verbs o base form (a.k.a. present tense):  no ending for all verbs o third person singular  -(e)s ending for all verbs except be slide 7: first two forms of verbs English 402: Grammar

8. o past tense (a.k.a. –ed form)  -(e)d ending for regular verbs o past participle (a.k.a. –en form)  -(e)d ending for regular verbs slide 8: remaining three forms of verbs English 402: Grammar Why “-en form”? To distinguish it from the past tense form using the fact that the past participles of many irregular verbs end in –n, e.g. know-known, speak-spoken, go-gone. o present participle (a.k.a. –ing form)  -ing ending for all verbs