Present Simple for beginners
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.
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
Spelling
Many verbs in English take -s to their base form to make the third-person singular form:
- eat → eat
s - walk → walk
s - run → run
s
If the verbs end in -ch, -ss, -sh, -x or -zz, we add '-es':
- watch → watch
es - wash → wash
es - mix → mix
es
If the verbs end in a consonant + -y we change 'y' to 'i' and add '-es':
- study → stud
ies - hurry → hurr
ies
If the verbs end in a vowel + '-y', we just add '-s':
- pay → pay
s - enjoy → enjoy
s
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 |
You work. | You do not work. |
You |
She run |
She does not run. |
She |
To negate to be, the formula is: to be + not.
To Be | Negation | Short Form |
---|---|---|
I am a student. |
I am |
- |
You are a student. |
You are |
You |
He/she is a student. |
He/she is |
He/she |
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. |
|
You run. |
|
He goes to school. |
|
If the main verb of the sentence is 'to be', the question form is 'Be + Subject + ….)
Statement | Question |
---|---|
I am happy. |
|
You are a doctor. |
|
He is nice. |
|
Uses
The Simple present tense is used to:
- Talk about facts:
Mary
The earth
- Talk about routines:
Mary
I
Comments
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Tenses
Tenses are a set of grammatical characteristics that are used in languages to show time. Here you will learn all how to use tenses in English language.
Past Simple
Past simple tense is one of the most exciting and important tenses in English. We often use it to talk about what happened before.
Future Simple
The best way to predict the future is to create it. In this lesson, you will learn to talk about the future in English using 'will.'
Present Continuous
The present continuous tense is a basic tense. It is usually one of the first tenses you start to learn when you first start studying English.
