- The simple present tense
- The forms of the simple present
- The affirmative form of the simple present:
- The interrogative form of the simple present:
- The negative form of the simple present:
- The use of the simple present:
- The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present:
- Examples:
- Examples:
- Exception:
- Things to remember about the simple present:
- Exercises on the theme:
The simple present tense
This page will present the simple present tense:
- its form
- and its use.
Before you continue the lesson read the following passage and try to see how the verbs are formed and used.
 The verb be, drive, stay are in the simple present. |
The forms of the simple present
The affirmative form of the simple present:
| I, you, we, they | play. |
| He, she, it | plays. |
Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an “s”. For example, “he plays, she sings,it works…”
Examples:
- Nancy and James speak good German.
- Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.
- The children play in the garden every weekend.
The interrogative form of the simple present:
| Do | I, you, we, they | play? |
| Does | he, she, it |
Examples:
- Do you speak good German?
- Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?
The negative form of the simple present:
| I, you, we,they | do not | play. |
| don’t | ||
| He, she, it | does not | |
| doesn’t |
Examples:
- No, I don’t speak German.
- No, she doesn’t work in a restaurant downtown
The use of the simple present:
The simple present is used:
- to give your opinion – I like ice cream. I don’t like spicy food.
- to talk about schedules – The library opens at eight. It doesn’t open at 7.
- to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for breakfast every day. She doesn’t eat cereal.
- to give facts – The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn’t circle the sun.
The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present:
All the verbs take an “s” in the simple present when conjugated in the third person singular (he, she, it) form:
Examples:
- I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend.
- My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.
So the rule is:
| He / she / it + Verb + S |
There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules:
| Silent e | Vowel + y | Consonant + y | Verbs ending in o | Verbs ending in s, z, sh, tch, ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| close = closes note = notes | play = plays say = says | study = studies marry = marries | go = goes do = does | miss = misses buzz = buzzes hatch = hatches finish = finishes teach = teaches |
Examples:
- She drives to work every morning.
- He says he plays football on the weekends
Exception:
- The verb to have changes its forms as follows:
I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers.
I have = he / she / it has
Things to remember about the simple present:
1.In the interrogative forms, we use “do” or “does”.
- “Do you like the house?”
- “Does she go to school?”
2. Verbs never take an “s” in the the negative and interrogative forms.
- “Does he speak German?”
- “Do they play soccer?”
- She doesn’t like ice cream.
3. don’t is the short form of “do not”. You can say either:
- I do not speak Italian, or
- I don’t speak Italian.
4.doesn’t is the short form of “does not”. you can say either:
- He does not listen to jazz music, or
- He doesn’t listen to jazz music.