I sing
How do we make the Simple Present Tense?
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
do base
There are three important exceptions:
1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, i t), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.
Look at these examples with the main verb like:
subject auxiliary verb main verb
I, you, we, they like coffee.
+
He, she, i t likes coffee.
I, you, we, they do not like coffee.
-He, she, i t does not like coffee.
Do I, you, we, they like coffee?
?
Does he, she, i t like coffee?
Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there i s no auxiliary:
subject main verb
I am French.
You, we, they are French. +
He, she, i t is French.
I am not old.
You, we, they are not old. -He, she, i t is not old.
?
Am I late?
Are you, we, they late?
Is he, she, i t late?
How do we use the Simple Present Tense?
We use the simple present 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 i s always true
John drives a taxi.
past present future
It i s John's j ob to drive a taxi . He does i t every day. Past, present and future.
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 do not work at night.
· Do you pl ay football?
Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not
general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to
be" in the simple present tense—some of them are general, some of them are now:
Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
You are happy.
past present future
The situation is now.
I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall.
past present future
The situation is general . Past, present and future.
This pages hows the use of the simple present
tense to talk about general events. But note
that there are some other uses for the simple
present tense, for example in conditional or if
sentences, or to talk about the future. You
will learn about those later.
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