Help using the present form.

Question

Hello there, I'm writing a song but I have some doubts.

As far as I understand, when we're using the present form, many verbs ends with an "s"

So, is the phrase: "They're thorns that make my body aches" correct?
If so, why only the word 'aches' ends with an "s" and not the word 'make' too?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can clarify this.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anonymousSo, is the phrase: "They're thorns that make my body aches" correct?

No.

You are using a catenative construction here. That is, you are using two verbs together — "make" and "ache". In this construction only the first verb agrees with the subject. The other verb is plain, i.e., it has no ending like -s or -ed.

"thorns" is not singular. It means more than one thorn. But only singular subjects (other than I and you) have -s at the end. So the correct form is "make", not "makes".

"ache" does not have an "s" because it's the second verb in a catenative construction. In these cases we never add -s. When the second verb of a catenative construction is a plain verb, we call it a bare infinitive. We don't call it a present tense.

You need this:

They're thorns that make my body ache.

Other examples:

The wind makes the flag wave.
The clown makes the children laugh.
The rules of English make my head spin.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Excellente CJ, thank you very much!

Help using the present form.

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