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RSS FeedJanuary 29th, 2012
English vs Espanol: Second person vs. third person conjugations
Contrast these English and Spanish sentences
| Person | English | Español | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | I sing. | Yo canto. | ||
| 2nd | You sing. | (Tu) cantas. | “s” in Spanish | |
| 3rd | He sings. | Él canta. | “s” in English | |
| – | ||||
| 1st | I eat. | Yo como. | ||
| 2nd | You eat. | Tu comes. | “s” in Spanish. | |
| 3rd | He eats. | El come. | “s” in English | |
This general notion that verbs for the second person end in “s” and for the third person do not end in “s” is fairly standard in Spanish. The reverse is fairly standard in English.
The obvious question follows: is this kind of conjugation fairly common in the respective Romance and Germanic families? Is the contrast a common contrast between those families?