Present Simple

The Present Simple tense is the most basic tense in English and uses the base form of the verb (except for the verb be). The only change from the base is the addition of s for third person singular.

How do we make the Present Simple tense?#

There are two basic structures for the Present Simple:

Positive sentences#

Subject + Main verb

Negative and question sentences#

Negative

Subject + Auxiliar (do/does)+ not + Main verb (Base)

Question

Auxiliar (do/does) + Subject + Main verb (Base) + ...?

Look at these examples with the main verb like:

1. Positive

• [ I, You, We, They ] like coffee
• [ He, She, It ] like coffee

2. Negative

• [ I, You, We, They ] do not (or don't) like coffee
• [ He, She, It ] does not (or doesn't) like coffee

3. Question

• Do [ I, You, We, They ] like coffee?
• Does [ He, She, It ] like coffee?

For positive sentences:

• There is no auxiliary verb.
• We conjugate the main verb by adding s to the third person singular.

For negative and question sentences:

• The auxiliary verb (do) is conjugated in the Present Simple: do and does.
• The main verb is invariable in base form.
• For negative sentences, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.
• For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the auxiliary verb.

Present Simple with main verb be#

The structure of the Present Simple with the main verb be is:

Subject + Main ver be (am, are, is)

Look at these examples with the main verb be:

1. Positive

• I am French.
• [ You, We, They ] are French.
• [ He, She, It ] is French.

2. Negative

• I am not (or I'm not or more informal I ain't) French.
• [ You, We, They ] are not (or aren't) French.
• [ He, She, It ] is (or isn't) French.

1. Question

• Am I French?
• Are [ You, We, They ] French?
• Is [ He, She, It ] French?

Keep in mind:

• There is no auxiliary verb, even for questions and negatives.
• The main verb (be) is conjugated in the Present Simple: am, are, is
• For negative sentences, we insert not after the main verb.
• For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the main verb.

How do we use the Present Simple tense?#

We use the Present Simple to talk about:

• General time (action verbs)
• Situations now (stative verbs)
• General time and situations now (verb be)

Present Simple for general time#

We use the Present Simple tense when:

• The action is general
• The action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
• The action is not only happening now
• The statement is always true

Look at these examples:

• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We meet every Thursday.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?

Present Simple for now#

For stative verbs, we can use the Present Simple to talk about now. Stative verbs do not describe action. They describe state, and are verbs such as: like, sound, belong to, need, seem. We can use these verbs with the Present Simple tense to talk about a situation at the present time, not general.

Present Simple for general time and now#

The verb be is always special. It is a stative verb, and we use it in the Present Simple tense to talk about now situations and about general situations. Look at these examples of the verb be in the Present Simple tense - some are general and some are now:

References#

Present Simple. (n.d.). English Club. https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_present-simple.htm