Present Simple Tense

Form:

1- To form the Present Simple Tense we use the verb's base form (go, work, speak, study). In 3^rd person singular (he, she, it), the base form of the verb takes -s/es. (Auxiliary verbs "be," "do," "have", which can also be used as

main verbs, are exceptions.)

EX:

1-He writes the report.
2-The pupil writes the report.
3-She plays.
4-The girl plays.
5-They cry.
6-he women cry.

NOTE:

about formation of the 3rd person singular (he, she, it):

If the verb ends in -ss, -sh, -ch, -x or -o, add -es to the base form:
kiss - kisses, finish - finishes, watch - watches, mix - mixes, go - goes

If the verb ends in consonant + y change y to i and add -es:
study - studies, copy - copies, try - tries, carry - carries

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		do		base

There are three important exceptions:

For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I, you, we, they			Like	coffee.
+	He, she, it			Likes	coffee.
-	I, you, we, they	do	not	like	coffee.
-	He, she, it	does	not	like	coffee.
?	Do	I, you, we, they		like	coffee?
?	Does	he, she, it		like	coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

	subject	main verb
+	I	am		French.
	You, we, they	are		French.
	He, she, it	is		French.
-	I	am	not	old.
	You, we, they	are	not	old.
	He, she, it	is	not	old.
?	Am	I		late?
	Are	you, we, they		late?
	Is	he, she, it		late?

3- STATEMENTS

I work.

He works.

She works.

It works.

You work.

We work.

They work.

4- NEGATIVE

I, YOU + PLURAL	DON’T + VERB	VERB + NOT
HE, SHE, IT + S	DOESN’T + VERB	VERB + NOT

She is not (isn't) at school.

He doesn't work.

She doesn't work.

It doesn't work.

You don't work.

We don't work.

They don't work.

They are not (aren't) at home

We are not (isn't) at school.

I am not (I'm not) hungry.

We can not (cannot) swim.

I must not go out.

I don't work.

5-QUESTION

DO	I, You, we, they	VERB ?
DOES	HE, SHE, IT	VERB ?

Questions	answer +	answer -
Do I work?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Does he work?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she work?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it work?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't.
Do you work?	Yes you do.	No, you don't.
Do we work?	Yes we do.	No, we don't.
Do they work?	Yes they do.	No, they don't.

USES:

The Simple Present Tense is used to express a regular, habitual, repeated actions or events.

1 Repeated Actions

Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do
Examples:

I play tennis.
She does not play tennis.
Does he play tennis?
The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
The train does not leave at 9 AM.
When does the train usually leave?
She always forgets her purse.
He never forgets his wallet.
Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.
Does the Sun circle the Earth?

2 Facts or Generalizations

The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.
Examples:

Cats like milk.
Birds do not like milk.
Do pigs like milk?
California is in America.
California is not in the United Kingdom.
Windows are made of glass.
Windows are not made of wood.
New York is a small city. It is not important that this fact is untrue.

3 Scheduled Events in the Near Future

Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.
Examples:

The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.
The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.
When do we board the plane?
The party starts at 8 o'clock.
When does class begin tomorrow?

4 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.
Examples:

I am here now.
She is not here now.
He needs help right now.
He does not need help now.
He has his passport in his hand.
Do you have your passport with you?

5 The simple present tense is used to discuss permanant situations and the frequency of events

To have	Short form	Other Verbs (to work)
I have	I've	I work
he has	he's	He works
she has	she's	She works
it has	it's	It works
you have	you've	you work
we have	we've	we work
they have	they've	they work

6 With Present Simple Tense we often use time expressions such as always, often, sometimes, usually, seldom, on Saturdays, rarely, never, every day, etc.

EX:

1. Philip gets up at 6 o'clock every morning.
2. I go to school every day.
3. She sometimes goes out on Friday night.
4. I usually sleep late on Sunday morning.
5. Peter works for 8 hours every day.
6. We usually start work at 8 o'clock.
7. My children often watch TV in the afternoon.
8. He always forgets his keys.

7 when we talk about travel plans and timetables (mainly with verbs such as go, leave, arrive, start, come, return etc.)

8 with state (or stative) verbs such as like, dislike, love, think, seem, look, know, feel, understand, want, need, hate, remember, forget, prefer, believe, mean, taste, hear, see, have (when the meaning is "possess"), own, belong, etc. These verbs are not normally used in the Continuous Tense (but there are exceptions).

9 to give instructions/directions

Keywords which indicate the presence of Simple Present Tense in the sentence :

Always, As a rule, As regularly, As usual, Daily ,Ever ,Every month ,Every time ,Every week, Every year, Everyday ,Frequently ,Generally, Hardly ever, In general, In modern days In these days Never Normally Now-a-days Occasionally Often, Periodically, Rarely Regularly Scarcely Seldom Sometimes Usually Whenever

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.
Examples:

You only speak English.
Do you only speak English?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

Once a week, Tom cleans the car. Active
Once a week, the car is cleaned by Tom. Passive

Present simple practise
1- Fill in the blanks with the correct form of words given:

1. I __________ (read) a very interesting book now.

2. Joanne __________ (work) eight hours a day.

3. Tonight we __________ (see) a play at the thereatre.

4. Who __________ you __________ (speak) to just now?

5. I __________ (not know) him very well.

6. What will you do if she __________ (come) late?

7. My wife __________ (like) coffee for breakfast.

8. What __________ Tom usually __________(have) for breakfast?

9. Your train __________ (leave) at 17.25 from platform 3.

10. What __________ Mary __________ (do) ? She's a student.

11. My whole family _____________(go) to church once a week.

12. My wife and I _______________(go) to the beach in the summer.

13. Listen! The phone ______________(ring) in the other room.

14. Rain seldom ______________(fall) in the Sahara.

15. He is thirteen years old now, and his voice ___________________(change).

16. Let's change the conversation. It _______________(get) too serious.

17. Leap year ________________(come) every four years.

18. My grandfather ______________(grow) tomatoes in his garden this summer.

19. He ______________(grow) them every summer .

20. The children ____________________(leave) for school right now.

21. The children ________________(leave) at 8:30 every morning of the week.

22. Shu! The baby ____________________(take) her nap.

23. In the north the season __________________(change) four times a year .

24. Unfortunately, the patient ____________________ (die).

25. The monsoon ___________________(come) once or twice a year.

26. It's spring and the days ___________________(get) longer.

27. The weather ___________(get) very cold in Moscow in the winter.

28. It _______________(rain) hard, and I don't have an umbrella.

29. It's November and the birds _________________(fly) south.

30. Many birds of Europe ___________(fly) south to Africa every winter

2-Complete with the correct verb.

LISTEN - PLAY - GO - DO - GET UP - READ - RIDE - WASH - DRIVE - WATCH

a) Camila the homework at home.

b) I my bike everyday.

c) John to music.

d) Tom football at the club on Tuesdays.

e) My father his brand new car.

f) You the newspaper on Sundays,

g) My sister T.V. in the evening.

h) Lucy and I at 9 o´clock everyday.

i) Danielle home at 6:30.

3-Write the previous senteces into the NEGATIVE form. Use "DO NOT" (not don´t) or "DOES NOT" (not doesn´t), please.