Monday, January 31, 2011

Common Error: Use of third-person verbs

It's "Mistake Monday" again, so let's look at another common error! This one is definitely common; in fact, it's probably one of the top three most common errors I notice with my Spanish-speaking students.

The technical name for this type of error would be "forgetting to conjugate third-person verbs," but if that's too nerdy for you, just remember that this problem comes up when you have "he," "she," "it," or a name as the subject of your sentence. Let's take a look:

Common Error: Use of third-person verbs
DON’T say this:Costa Rica have many nice places to visit.
She go to her mother's house every Sunday.
Every time he see her, he bring her flowers.
WHY?-This is a very common error, but just because it's common, doesn't mean it's OK. You have to add an "-s" or "-es" to the end of third-person verbs.

-When you change a verb, you conjugate it. If you don't conjugate your verbs, people will probably understand you, but they'll know you're not a fluent speaker.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:-“Costa Rica has many nice places to visit.”
-“She goes to her mother's house every Sunday.”
-“Every time he sees her, he brings her flowers."

So, today's common error was very easy to correct, wasn't it? If you have any comments, questions, or other suggestions for common errors, please leave a comment below or fill out the contact form. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Ryan, this is one of my common errors

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Have a good day, and good luck with those third-person verbs! :)

    ReplyDelete

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-Ryan

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