Simple Present Tense
Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is one of several forms of the present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is relatively simple to form too. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) and then the 3rd person singular adds on an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes.)
-To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:
I drink (habit); I work in Berlin (unchanging situation); Berlin is a large city (general truth)
-To give instructions or directions:
You run for two hundred meters, than you turn right.
-To express fixed arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 9:00 AM.
-To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
Be careful! The simple present is not used to express actions that are happening now.
For habits
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats vegetables.
They watch movies regularly.
For repeated actions or events
We catch the bus every afternoon.
It rains every night in the wet season.
They drive to the south of Spain every summer.
For general truths
Water freezes at zero degrees.
The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Her mother is Colombian.
For instructions or directions
Open up the packet and pour the soup contents into the hot water.
You take the No. 92 bus to Queens and then the No. 80 bus to Manhattan.
For fixed arrangements
His father arrives to the family house tomorrow.
My summer vacation starts on June 30th.
With future plans
She’ll see you tomorrow before you leave for work.
We’ll give the present to your friend when she arrives to the surprise party.
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Simple Present Tense: To Play
Affirmative:
Interrogative:
Negative:
I play
Do I play?
I do not play
_____________
You play
Do you play?
You do not play
______________
He plays
Does he play?
He does not play
_______________
She plays
Does she play?
She does not play
________________
It plays
Does it play?
It does not play
_________________
We play
Do we play?
We do not play
_________________
They play
Do they play?
They do not play
_________________
THIRD PERSON SINGULAR
- In the third person singular, the verb always ends in -s:
- he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
- Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of the auxiliary 'DO') + the infinitive of the verb.
- He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla.
- Verbs ending in -y: the third person changes the -y to -ies:
- fly --> flies, cry --> cries
- Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:
- play --> plays, pray --> prays
- Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
- he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
More Examples w/ Simple Present Tense
1. John goes to work every morning at his company.
2. He understands Spanish very well.
3. You mix the eggs and the milk together.
4. He works very hard to do his Science project.
5. She likes to play the guitar.
6. We think that the theatre play is fantastic.
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