LoginPresent Simple
In this lesson, you will learn all the grammatical features of the Present simple tense in English and get familiar with its uses.
What Is Simple Present?
The simple present tense is very common in English. As its name states, it is mainly used for talking about the present time.
Structure
In English, we have two kinds of verbs that are listed below:
Now, let us see how each group is used in the 'simple present' tense:
Regular Verbs
In the 'simple present' tense, regular verbs are used in their base form except for the third person singular. Study the following examples carefully:
I
They
The third-person singular tense comes with an '-s' at the end of the verb. Look at the examples below:
Simon
She
Tip!
Remember that when the verb ends in 'zz, 'sh', 'ch', 'ss', and 'x', we add '-es' to the end of it when it is used in the third person singular. Look at the following examples:
He kiss
She do
Irregular Verbs
Warning!
Remember that if you want to change the sentence to a negative one, use the auxiliary verbs 'do' and 'does'. Look at the following examples:
I
She
We can also use this tense in questions. Take a look at the following examples:
Here, we must have an auxiliary verb.
As you can see, we do not need an auxiliary verb.
Uses
The 'simple present' tense in English is used in many different contexts. However, we are going to learn about some of its main uses as listed below:
- General Facts
- Hobbies
- Habits
- Future Plans
- State of Being
General Facts
When we want to talk about scientific facts or things that we are sure of, we mainly use the 'simple present' tense. Look at the examples below:
Babies cry when they
If you don't
Hobbies
Another use of the 'simple present' tense is to talk about hobbies. Hobbies are activities that we do in our free time. Carefully study the following examples:
I
Whenever she is free, she
Tip!
It is useful to know that we can also use the 'simple present' tense when we want to talk about what we like and what we do not like. Look at the following examples:
He
As you can see, only the verb 'like' changes according to the subject and the main verb remains the same.
I don't
Beliefs
We can also use the 'simple present' tense to talk about what we believe in or our thoughts on something. Take a look at the following examples:
She
They
State of Being
When we want to talk about how we feel about something or someone, we mainly use the 'simple present' tense. Study the following examples carefully:
I
As you can see, the sentence is about how we are feeling.
She
Future Plans
Another use of the 'simple present' tense is to talk about events in the future that are fixed. Take a look at the following examples:
The plane
As you can see, there is a fixed time in the sentence.
He
Tip!
When we want to talk about our jobs, we can also use the 'simple present' tense. Look at the following examples:
I
She
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