How to Correctly Use the "s" in English Grammar

When you learn English, you have to understand that English grammar is not that difficult compared to other languages, but you have to pay attention to the rules and the exceptions to the rules. One of the many mistakes I have noticed is the wrong use of different "s"-es that have different grammatical functions. Of course, these mistakes can only be seen in written.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. * One common mistake is the "s" after a family name to refer to the whole family, for example The Browns, The Jonsons and NOT The Bronw's, The Jonsons's.

2. * Then we have the possessive " 's "
   - when we have one owner we use " 's " as in the girl's doll, the boy's ball.
   - when we have several owners we use just " ' " as in the girls' doll, the boys' ball.
   for plurals that do not end in " s ", we use " 's " as in the children's toys, the women's hats.

3. * The ending " s " for the third person singular of the present simple - he eats, she runs. When in the negative we only have the "es" in "does" - he doesn't eat, she doesn't run.
   The 3rd person of the Present Simple is the only one that is marked by "s/es".

[Saesult]

on 1/27/2009 Yep, S is troublesome. Good article.

[ReuseItAll]

on 1/24/2009 Great! I'm having to learn this all over again as I help my kids with their homework! Great instructions!

[goodselfme]

on 1/22/2009 Well done article and much needed 5* write. thank you

[SarahRobinson]

on 1/20/2009 Great article. I am annoyed at improper use of the "s" as well. There is a typo in Step 1, however--"Brown" is spelled wrong :)

[kaytay]

on 1/16/2009 Such a good topic because "s" is used incorrectly very often! 5 stars and a recommend!