Why Indonesians Forget the 's' in Third Person Singular | English with Norman

English with Norman

Why Indonesians Always Forget the 's' in Third Person Singular

Learn why this grammar mistake happens—and how to fix it for good.

B1 Level Grammar ~8 min read

You've Probably Written This Before

Have you ever written sentences like these?

❌ Wrong

My brother go to school every day. She like chocolate very much. He don't understand the lesson.

If you have—don't worry. You're not alone. This is literally the most common grammar mistake made by Indonesian English learners. Even advanced students still make it sometimes.

But here's the good news: once you understand why it happens, you'll find it much easier to remember. And this reason has everything to do with how Indonesian works differently from English.

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

Kalau kamu udah pernah nulis atau bicara kayak gitu—jangan khawatir. Ini adalah mistake yang paling sering dilakukan oleh learner Indonesia. Bahkan yang udah advanced sekalipun masih sering kelepasan.

Tapi ada kabar bagus: begitu kamu paham kenapa ini terjadi, pasti lebih gampang untuk diinget. Dan alasan ini 100% ada hubungannya dengan cara bahasa Indonesia bekerja, yang beda dengan bahasa Inggris.

---

The Root Cause: Indonesian Grammar Has No Conjugation

Here's the thing—and this is important—Indonesian doesn't have verb conjugation at all. That's not a weakness. It's just different.

In Indonesian, no matter who is doing the action, the verb stays exactly the same:

Subject (Indonesian)	Sentence	Verb Form
Aku (I)	Aku pergi ke sekolah	pergi (same)
Kamu (You)	Kamu pergi ke sekolah	pergi (same)
Dia (He/She)	Dia pergi ke sekolah	pergi (same)
Mereka (They)	Mereka pergi ke sekolah	pergi (same)

See the pattern? The verb is always pergi—it never changes. The context tells you who did it.

English is the opposite. In English, the verb changes depending on who is doing it:

Subject (English)	Sentence	Verb Form	The Rule
I	I go to school	go	Base form
You	You go to school	go	Base form
He/She/It	He goes to school	goes	+ S
They	They go to school	go	Base form

This is called subject-verb agreement, and it's one of the biggest differences between Indonesian and English grammar.

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

Ini hal penting yang perlu dipahami: bahasa Indonesia tidak punya verb conjugation sama sekali. Ini bukan kelemahan—cuma beda aja.

Di bahasa Indonesia, mau siapa yang melakukan aksi, katanya tetep sama. "Aku pergi", "Kamu pergi", "Dia pergi", "Mereka pergi"—semua katanya "pergi", nggak berubah. Konteksnya kita yang urus.

Nah, bahasa Inggris kebalikan banget. Verb-nya berubah-ubah tergantung siapa yang melakukan aksinya. Dan ini disebut subject-verb agreement—satu dari perbedaan terbesar antara BI dan English.

Jadi waktu otak kita belajar English—yang udah terbiasa dengan pola "kata kerja tetap sama"—kita mikir: "Loh? Kenapa harus di-S? Di BI nggak gitu."

---

This Is Called L1 Interference

L1 Interference is a term in language learning that means your first language's structure "interferes" with your learning of a new language. Your brain learned Indonesian first, so it thinks: "Verbs don't change. Why would they change now?"

This is completely normal. It's not laziness. It's not stupidity. Your brain is doing exactly what it's trained to do—applying the rules of Indonesian to English.

The solution isn't to feel bad about it. The solution is to consciously retrain your brain to notice when "he/she/it" appears and automatically add the 's'.

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

L1 Interference adalah istilah dalam language learning yang berarti struktur bahasa pertama kamu "mengganggu" pembelajaran bahasa baru. Otak kamu udah belajar BI dulu, jadi dia mikir: "Kata kerja nggak berubah. Kenapa harus berubah sekarang?"

Ini normal banget. Bukan karena malas. Bukan karena bodoh. Otak kamu cuma lagi lakukan apa yang sudah dilatih—apply rules BI ke English.

Solusinya bukan feel bad tentang ini. Solusinya adalah consciously retrain otak kamu untuk notice ketika "he/she/it" muncul dan automatically add the 's'.

---

10 Common Examples: Wrong vs Right

Examples 1–3: The Most Common Verbs

#	Wrong ❌	Right ✅	Why?
1	My sister go to the market.	My sister goes to the market.	Sister = she (singular) → add 's': goes
2	He don't like spicy food.	He doesn't like spicy food.	He = singular → "does" not "do"
3	She study English every day.	She studies English every day.	Verb ends in -y → change to -ies: studies

Norman's note: Example #2 is tricky because it's not just the main verb—it's the auxiliary verb "do" that changes. With "he/she/it", you need "does", not "do".

Examples 4–6: Verbs with Special Endings

#	Wrong ❌	Right ✅	Why?
4	My teacher teach us grammar.	My teacher teaches us grammar.	Teach → teach + es: teaches
5	The clock show 3 PM.	The clock shows 3 PM.	Show → show + s: shows
6	Rini watch Korean dramas.	Rini watches Korean dramas.	Ends in -ch → add -es: watches

Examples 7–10: Irregular & Tricky Cases

#	Wrong ❌	Right ✅	Why?
7	The baby have a toy.	The baby has a toy.	Have → has (irregular—must memorize)
8	My dad work as an engineer, but he like painting.	My dad works as an engineer, but he likes painting.	Two verbs, two subjects—both need 's'
9	Mita and Rina go together, but she walk faster.	Mita and Rina go together, but she walks faster.	They = plural (go). She = singular (walks)
10	It rain in Jakarta every November.	It rains in Jakarta every November.	It = singular → add 's': rains

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

Contoh #9 itu yang tricky banget: satu kalimat punya dua subject—"Mita and Rina" (plural = they) dan "she" (singular). Kamu harus bedain:

• "Mita and Rina" = mereka = plural → verb tetap base form: "go"
• "she" = dia (perempuan) = singular → verb + s: "walks"

Ini yang sering membuat banyak orang salah: mereka fokus ke nama (Mita, Rina) terus lupa kalau ada "she" di belakang yang harus + s.

---

Norman's Insight

"Ketika saya kerja sebagai news anchor, kalimat harus keluar benar—langsung. Tidak ada waktu untuk edit. Saya perlu ingat secara otomatis: 'He works', 'She says', 'It happens'. Tidak ada pertanyaan, tidak ada keraguan. Cuma muscle memory yang build dari latihan berulang. Ini yang harus kalian lakukan juga."

---

Four Proven Tricks to Remember This

How to Make This Automatic

1. "S is for She" Reminder
   Setiap kali ketemu "he, she, atau it", dalam kepala bilang: "S is for She"—reminder bahwa verb harus + s. Contoh: "He likes pizza." (He → She-substitute → needs S)
2. Mental Checklist Before You Write or Speak
   Tanyain diri: "Apakah subject-nya singular (he, she, it, atau nama orang satu)?" Kalau iya → tambah S. Kalau nggak (I, you, we, they) → tetap base form.
3. Record Yourself Speaking
   Bicara kalimat dengan benar, terus dengarkan. Otak menyukai pembelajaran dari bunyi, bukan dari rules yang dihafal. Setiap pagi: "She goes to school. He works as a doctor."
4. Personal Context Repetition
   Bikin kalimat tentang orang yang kamu kenal, terus ulang. Karena konteksnya personal, otak lebih gampang inget:
   • "My mother cooks rice every day."
   • "My best friend studies hard."
   • "My brother plays guitar."

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

Trik #2 itu paling gampang untuk digunakan: sebelum write atau speak, tanyain diri: "Subject saya singular nggak? (he, she, it, atau nama orang tunggal)". Kalau iya → OTOMATIS tambah S di verb. Kalau nggak → tetap base form.

Trik #3 itu yang paling efektif jangka panjang: otak kita belajar lebih cepat dari bunyi daripada dari rules. Jadi setiap pagi, keluarkan kalimat dengan benar dan dengarkan. Tidak perlu lama—5 menit aja cukup.

---

Why This Matters (More Than You Think)

Kesalahan ini bukan main. Ini adalah mistake yang paling sering dilihat native speaker, dan ini bisa:

• Bikin speaking/writing-mu terdengar "non-native"—bahkan kalau vocab-mu banyak
• Bisa cause misunderstanding dalam konteks tertentu ("He go" vs "He goes" bisa different artinya)
• Di formal test (TOEFL, IELTS), ini selalu ada—dan bisa cost poin berharga

Jadi ini bukan hanya "grammar rule yang ketat". Ini adalah foundation untuk communicate dengan benar.

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

Di dunia kerja (apalagi kalau kamu kerja di perusahaan asing), email dengan grammar error seperti ini bisa affect kredibilitas kamu. Native speaker tidak akan "call it out", tapi mereka akan notice dan itu akan influence bagaimana mereka perceive profesionalisme kamu.

Jadi ini bukan tentang being perfect. Ini tentang communicate dengan confidence dan clarity.

---

Quick Practice: Find and Fix the Mistakes

Try It Now

Read these sentences and spot the third person singular errors. The answers are below.

1. "My colleague usually arrive at 8 AM, but he prefer to work from home on Fridays."

2. "This app have great features, and it help me organize my schedule."

3. "The manager say that Ani do excellent work."

4. "It matter a lot when someone don't respect your time."

Answers:

1. "My colleague usually arrives at 8 AM, but he prefers to work from home on Fridays."

2. "This app has great features, and it helps me organize my schedule."

3. "The manager says that Ani does excellent work."

4. "It matters a lot when someone doesn't respect your time."

---

The Real Timeline: How Long Until You're Automatic?

Here's the honest truth: with intensive practice (every single day), you can rewire this in 2–3 weeks. If you only practice casually, it might take 2–3 months.

But here's what happens: after that initial period, it becomes automatic. You won't even think about it anymore. Your hand or mouth will just add the 's' without conscious effort. This is called automaticity—and it's the goal of all language learning.

🇮🇩 Penjelasan dalam Bahasa Indonesia ▼

Intinya: tidak ada shortcut. Tapi ada aturan yang jelas. Kalau kamu latih setiap hari—focused practice, bukan latihan yang sembarangan—dalam 2-3 minggu, otak kamu akan "rewire" dan ini jadi otomatis. Tidak perlu mikir lagi.

Saya sendiri dulu salah. Terus saya latih berulang. Sekarang kalau ketemu "he" atau "she", tangan saya langsung menulis "s" tanpa perlu mikir. Itu yang perlu kalian capai juga.

---

Here's Your Action Plan

Three Quick Steps

Step 1: Remember the Rule

When you see "he/she/it" → AUTOMATICALLY add 's' to the verb. This is not optional. This is the rule.

Step 2: Use the "S is for She" Reminder

Every time you're unsure, repeat this phrase in your head. It takes 2 seconds and it works.

Step 3: Practice with Personal Sentences

Make sentences about people you know. Write them, say them, record yourself. Do this every day for 2–3 weeks.

Kalian bisa. Ini bukan tentang being perfect. Ini tentang progress. Sabar, dan latih konsisten. 💪

N

Norman

English Educator & Former Subtitle Translator

Norman has translated subtitles for major Indonesian broadcasters and worked as an English news anchor. He believes grammar is less about rules and more about understanding why those rules exist. His mission: make English feel less like memorization and more like logic.