Groups > Don't Be At A Loss For Words

95% - Better than I expected :~)

This, from the wordsmith. Yes. VERY surprising F451. Amazing that you managed it at all ;)) LoL

Here's the broader question. Why does English even bother to inflect its verbs (well, only some of them) for singular and plural? Does inflection for number add to meaning, or is it a formalism of little use? Consider --

1. Past tense verbs, other than be, are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"They ran."

"He ran." not "He rans."

2. Participles are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"Mary and John, running to catch the bus, missed it anyway." (running has a plural subject, Mary and John)

"Bill, running to catch the bus, missed it anyway." (running has a singular subject, Bill)

3. Gerunds are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"Their singing is beautiful." (singing has a plural subject, Their)

"His singing is beautiful." (singing has a singular subject, His)

(Note that the subject of a gerund is often in the genitive case.)

4. Infinitives are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"I know them to be reliable." (to be has a plural subject, them)

"I know him to be reliable." (to be has a singular subject, him)

(Note that the subject of an infinitive is often in the accusative case.)

5. Subjunctives are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"Were they here, we could proceed."

"Were he here, we could proceed." not "Was he here ..."

6. Imperatives are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"John and Mary, come here."

"Bill, come here." not "Bill, comes here."

7. Modal auxiliaries are the same for singular and plural subjects:

"They can do it."

"He can do it." not "He cans do it."

8. The future tense is the same for singular and plural subjects, because it is formed with modal auxiliaries:

"They will/shall be here."

"He will/shall be here." not "He wills/shalls be here."

I offer that if inflecting verbs for singular and plural were really all that important, we would do it a little more often.