[Grammar] The "s" in Present Tense third Person

[Fredenglish]

Hello,

I know that we should and I will follow the usage of correct grammar. However, what's the real purpose of the "s" in present tense third person? For example "she likes" without "s" would be completely understood the same way "I like", "you like", "they like", and "we like" would be. "Why can't English language do without it?

Thank you

 

[Tdol]

The language could do without it. We used more inflections with verbs in the past, then dropped some, but it wasn't done 100% consistently, leaving us with the third person singular form. Maybe we'll finish the job one day and get rid of it- some regional varieties use it less. It has no purpose now- in the past, when other forms inflected, it did.

 

[emsr2d2]

It doesn't serve a purpose but I always remind learners of English that they should be grateful they only have to learn one little extra verb ending. When my students in Spain complained about it, I pointed out that I was having to learn 18 different present tense verb endings (6 for -er verbs, 6 for -ar verbs, and 6 for -ir verbs).

 

[GoesStation]

Some dialects have lost the s. As a learner, you should learn and use it.