Simple Present
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Affirmative | She drinks. |
Negative | She does not drink. |
Interrogative | Does she drink? |
Form | I, you we they play | he, she, it plays |
Uses |
- action in the present taking place once, never or several times
- facts
- actions taking place one after another
- action set by a timetable or schedule
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Before you continue the lesson read the following passage and try to see how the verbs are formed and used.
James is a taxi driver. He drives a taxi. But on Sundays he doesn't drive his taxi. He stays at home.
The verb be, drive, stay are in the simple present.
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The forms of the simple present
The affirmative form of the simple present:
I, you, we, they |
play. |
He, she, it |
plays. |
Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an "s". For example, "he plays, she sings,it works..."
Examples:
- Nancy and James speak good German.
- Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.
- The children play in the garden every weekend.
The interrogative form of the simple present:
Do |
I, you, we, they |
play? |
Does |
he, she, it |
Examples:
- Do you speak good German?
- Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?
The negative form of the simple present:
I, you, we,they |
do not |
play. |
don't |
He, she, it |
does not |
doesn't |
Examples:
- No, I don't speak German.
- No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown
The use of the simple present:
The simple present is used:
- to give your opinion - I like ice cream. I don't like spicy food.
- to talk about schedules - The library opens at eight. It doesn't open at 7.
- to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for breakfast every day. She doesn't eat cereal.
- to give facts - The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn't circle the sun.
The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present:
All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the third person singular (he, she, it) form:
Examples:
- I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend.
- My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.
So the rule is:
There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules:
Silent e |
Vowel + y |
Consonant + y |
Verbs ending in o |
Verbs ending in s, z, sh, tch, ch |
close = closes note = notes |
play = plays
say = says |
study = studies
marry = marries |
go = goes
do = does |
miss = misses
buzz = buzzes
hatch = hatches
finish = finishes
teach = teaches |
Examples:
- She drives to work every morning.
- He says he plays football on the weekends
Exception:
- The verb to have changes its forms as follows:
I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one
sister and two brothers.
I have = he / she / it has
Things to remember about the simple present:
1.In the interrogative forms, we use "do" or "does".
- "Do you like the house?"
- "Does she go to school?"
2; Verbs never take an "s" in the the negative and interrogative forms.
- "Does he speak German?"
- "Do they play soccer?"
- She doesn't like ice cream.
3. don't is the short form of "do not". You can say either:
- I do not speak Italian, or
- I don't speak Italian.
4.doesn't is the short form of "does not". you can say either:
- He does not listen to jazz music, or
- He doesn't listen to jazz music.
Posted in English Grammar
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