frightens
- 1Third-person singular simple present of frighten.
The sight of blood frightens many first-time medical students.
A flash of lightning frightens the horses in the stable.
Note
The -s ending marks agreement with a singular subject (he, she, it, the sight of blood), while I, you, we and they take bare frighten. The form serves both uses of the verb. Usually it takes an object (thunder frightens the dog), but it can also stand alone, meaning the subject itself takes fright, as in a horse that frightens easily. An object after the verb tells you which meaning is in play.
The old mare frightens easily in heavy traffic.
He rarely frightens, even when the storm is overhead.
frightens is a form of frighten
frighten, verb: To make a person or animal feel fear, alarm, or fright. Full entry
- Forms
- frightenfrightens he/she/itfrightening -ing formfrightened past tense, past participle
- Spelling
- frighten → frightens: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
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