Present Simple for beginners

present simple present tenses simple tenses

In this lesson, you will learn all the grammatical features of the Present simple tense in the English language and get familiar with its uses.

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"Present Simple" Tense in English Grammar

What Is Present Simple Tense?

The present tense is the root of a verb. The verb is without any endings, like what we find in the dictionary.

Structure

Present simple tense is formed by the root of a verb but we have to add 's' or 'es' for the third person singular pronouns or nouns:

I	work
You	work
He/She/It	works
We	work
They	work

Spelling

Many verbs in English take -s to their base form to make the third-person singular form:

eat → eats
walk → walks
run → runs

If the verbs end in -ch, -ss, -sh, -x or -zz, we add '-es':

watch → watches
wash → washes
mix → mixes

If the verbs end in a consonant + -y we change 'y' to 'i' and add '-es':

study → studies
hurry → hurries

If the verbs end in a vowel + '-y', we just add '-s':

pay → pays
enjoy → enjoys

Some verbs are irregular:

be → is
do → does
go → goes
have → has

Present Simple 'to be'

The verb to be is one of the irregular verbs in the English language. in the table below, you can see its form in the present simple tense:

Subject	Be
I	am
You	are
He/She/It	is
We	are
You	are
They	are

Negation

For making a negative sentence, add 'do not' (don't) or 'does not' (doesn't) before the base form of verbs.

Affirmative	Negative	Short Form
I go to school.	I do not go to school.	I don't go to school.
You work.	You do not work.	You don't work.
She runs.	She does not run.	She doesn't run.

To negate to be, the formula is: to be + not.

To Be	Negation	Short Form
I am a student.	I am not a student.	-
You are a student.	You are not a student.	You aren't a student.
He/she is a student.	He/she is not a student.	He/she isn't a student.

Questions

For making a yes/no question, put 'do + subject + the base form of verb' or 'Does + subject + the base form of verb' at the beginning of the sentence.

Statement	Question
I run.	Do you run?
You run.	Do you run?
He goes to school.	Does he go to school?

If the main verb of the sentence is 'to be', the question form is 'Be + Subject + ….)

Statement	Question
I am happy.	Am I happy?
You are a doctor.	Are you a doctor?
He is nice.	Is he nice?

Using Present Simple to Talk about a Frequent Action

Uses

The Simple present tense is used to:

Talk about facts:

Mary has a twin sister.

The earth is round.

Talk about routines:

Mary goes to school every day.

I wash the dishes after dinner every night.