Third Person -s/-es Spelling Rules

The third person singular form (he, she, it) in the present simple needs a special ending on the verb. Most verbs simply add -s: "She reads books," "He walks to work," "It starts at nine." But some verbs follow different spelling rules, and learning these rules will help you spell every verb correctly when you write about another person.

There are three important spelling rules to remember. First, add -es to verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, or -o: watch → watches, wash → washes, miss → misses, mix → mixes, do → does. Second, if a verb ends in a consonant + y, change the y to -ies: study → studies, fly → flies, carry → carries. Third, if a verb ends in a vowel + y, just add -s as normal: play → plays, buy → buys, say → says. There is one common verb that does not follow any rule: have becomes has. Practising these patterns makes spelling automatic over time.