The One Red 'S' Rule
This technique is used to help catch and eventually prevent mistakes that beginners might make with the 3RD-PERSON 'S' (applied to verbs following 'he', 'she', 'it', and singular nouns) and with the 's' at the end of PLURAL SUBJECTS.
What to Expect
Present simple verbs need an ‘s’ added to the end when the subject is 3rd-person singular. It’s common for students at lower levels to leave off the ‘s’ where it’s needed or to add the ‘s’ where it doesn’t belong. Plural nouns also need an ‘s’ at the end. The two ‘s’ criteria shouldn’t be a source of confusion, but rather they can work together to help students figure out how to use them correctly.
Suppose that students know how to do plurals well enough, at that’s the easier of the two. If the subject has an ‘s’ (is plural), then the verb should not have an ‘s’. But if the subject does not have an added ‘s’ (is singular), then the verb does need one. Between any 3rd-person subject and its verb, there should be only one ‘s’. This is easier if the ‘s’ stands out, so make the ‘s’ red.
Prerequisites
Learners should already be familiar with the following:
Positive vs Negative vs Yes/No Questions: three corresponding sentences could be made with the same words (except not and maybe do) but in a different order. Students should be familiar with the prupose and structure of all three sentence types.
Helping Verbs, aka Auxiliary Verbs, are the small verbs that come in front of more important verbs. They are also the words that can be contracted with ‘not’.
- am / is / are / was / were
- have / has / had
- do / does / did
- can / could
Plural Forms, namely that an added ‘s’ at the end of a noun means that there is more than one of that noun. This video mentions irregular plurals (ones that don’t end in ‘s’), but it’s okay if students aren’t familiar with those yet.
Proficiency Level
Students at the A1 level are expected to know Plurals and 3rd-Person Verbs. They’ll learn them early in the Beginner level (1st out of 6).*
*actual starting level varies from one course-book series to the next
The One Red 'S' Rule
for 3rd person subjects & their verbs
When the subject is singular, it does not end with an ‘s’.
The corresponding verb does need an ‘s’, though.
When the subject is plural, it need an ‘s’ at the end.
The corresponding verb should not have an ‘s’.
Bonus Notes
Practice Activity
Teaching Tip
Printouts & Slideshows
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