Question between see and sees

Question

I was wondering what would be the proper way to say it or pronounce it? Please check below.

If he see us......

or

If he sees us...

When I say he sees us. it sounds kind of awkward for to pronounce it.

OH by the way my native language is Spanish.

Thank you for your help.

"Sees" rhymes with "please" - PeterRS, Feb 16, 2013

Answer 1

In the third person singular for most English verbs, one must add an "s" to the end of the base verb. For "to see" the present tense conjugation is:

I see.

You see.

He/she/it sees.

We see

You(plural) see

They see

So "if he sees us" is correct.

thanks Noetol that was very informative - techmax12, Feb 16, 2013

Answer 2

Maybe it sounds awkward because your inclination would be to use the subjunctive? While we don't use it nearly as much as Spanish, you could use "he see" in the following subjunctive situations:

• It is important that he see us/Es importante que él nos vea

• I suggested that he see a doctor/Le sugerí que vea al médico.

• The girl ran from her father, lest he see her eat the last piece of candy in the box/La niña salió corriendo de su padre, para que él no la vea comer el último caramelo en la caja.

But in the indicative, it is always "he sees."

Please, somebody correct me if I've made errors with the Spanish sentences. I know the English ones are grammatically correct.

(edited because I don't know how to format paragraphs and everything always runs together!)

just a little point that might help in the future - although you might expect the subjunctive after si/if - if the information following si refers to the present or the future then the indicative is nearly always used, si is rarely (so rarely that most - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 16, 2013

people would say 'never') followed by the present subjunctive although it is followed by the past subjunctive to say such things as 'if I were you' '(si) yo fuera tú...) etc - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 16, 2013

Yeah, I saw the "if" and was going to point out that I know you don't really see subjunctive after "if" clauses in Spanish, but it felt to cumbersome to go into, lol! I also didn't point out our imperfect subjunctive since it wouldn't use "he see". - MyHeadAboveWater, Feb 16, 2013

all good, just thought I'd mention it because the logic would be there to follow 'si' with the present subjunctive although it nearly never is - nice post of yours though with good examples of the English subjunctive that I'm sure will be helpful. - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 16, 2013

Answer 3

If he sees us, just ignore him. Never mind he didn't see us.

thanks that was very helpful - techmax12, Feb 16, 2013

Answer 4

You've received some great answers to your question but just as a little extra if you'd like a reference article about the English present tense and how to form affirmative and negative sentences etc you may find this one helpful.

Answer 5

It can be a little difficult to get used to, because in Spanish, he/she/it verbs always end without an "s" (él busca, ella camina, etc.) and verbs that do end in "s" are often conjugated from "tú" (tu buscas, caminas, etc.), but in English it's the opposite, these same groups of people require the opposite (he looks for, she walks, you look for, you walk). It seems strange, but that's just how it is.

Answer 6

Welcome, good to have you with us. I see from your profile you are fluent in both Spanish and English.

It would indeed be, "If he sees us"...

thank you rac1, eventhough I'm some what fluent in english I still need to practice on word pronounciation that I never use - techmax12, Feb 16, 2013

De nada. I'm sure we will be able to help each other. :) - rac1, Feb 16, 2013

Answer 7

The correct way would be "If he sees us..." I guess it does sound a bit weird, but without the s, it just sounds so wrong.

You could also say "if he would see us" to get around that. :p

I know , it just I have a spanish accent when pronouncing some engliish words. - techmax12, Feb 16, 2013

That's only normal! You probably speak English a lot better than I can speak Spanish, haha. I can only imagine how much I butcher your language. :p - modrak, Feb 16, 2013