Is "asks" a word?

'Asks' is the correct form of the verb with he/she. The other person was mistaken.

I ask

You ask

He/she asks

We ask

They ask

AnonymousI had a heated debate with someone about this. I was told that is no such word as "asks".

How strange... maybe they say "I aks, you aks, he aks"?

Anonymous
I had a heated debate with someone about this. I was told that is no such word as "asks".

So how would you say, "He always asks" ?

You shouldn't have wasted your time and energy arguing with someone who doesn't know such a simple word.

If one really wants to debate, I can see why he said it’s not a real word. If you look up “ask” in the dictionary, you won’t find it because simply, “asks” is only a word in the sense that it’s used in a “3^rd person” context. Dictionary will only define words in their infinitive or bare form. So technically, “’asks” is not a word, based on your debater’s point of view.

The word asks exists, but the usage "He always asks" does not. (ask cannot be used without an object.)

Say "He is always asking questions".

CJ

But you could certainly say "he always asks good questions in class."

For that matter, I think you could say "He always asks" if the object was understood but not stated.

"Did he borrow your dictionary without asking permission?" "Oh no -- he borrows it a lot, but he always asks."

What do you think?

I think there was not enough information in the original post to conclude that this was the kind of thing the argument was about. In fact, even without that information, I'm inclined to doubt that this sort of complex usage (requiring a fairly elaborate set-up) was what the disagreement was about.

I think it was a clever way of constructing a situation in which "he always asks" wor

CalifJim
Is it my imagination, or have you been away from the grammar section for a while? Nice to 'see' you back again!

I was thinking the same thing just the other day. Welcome back, K.

Nona The Brit'Asks' is the correct form of the verb with he/she. The other person was mistaken.

I ask

You ask

He/she asks

We ask

They ask

There's also the non-standard form asks, for 1st person. Perhaps this is what the original discussion was all about.

Goodman
If one really wants to debate, I can see why he said it’s not a real word. If you look up “ask” in the dictionary, you won’t find it because simply, “asks” is only a word in the sense that it’s used in a “3^rd person” context. Dictionary will only define words in their infinitive or bare form. So technically, “’asks” is not a word, based on your d