Present Simple Tense

Present Simple Tense(Rules and Examples)

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Present simple tense rules

The rules of the present simple tense are only possible with regular verbs. Regular verbs follow the rules and irregular verbs do not follow the rules.

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs use the base form(like) except for the third person(he, she,it). In the third person, you need to add an s.

I make 

You make

He/she makes

We make 

They make

Spelling Changes

For verbs that end in o, ch, sh, th, ss, gh, or z,you need to add es

I go

You go

He/she goes

We go

They go

Some more common examples:

do= He does

catch= He catches

watch=He watches

mix= He mixes 

When the verb ends in consonant + y, we drop y and add ies.

Study = He studies

Marry = He marries

Carry = He carries

We do not do this when it is vowel + y. 

stay= He stays

destroy= He destroys 

pay= He pays

Irregular Verbs 

Irregular verbs do not follow the rules above.

The most common irregular verbs in the present simple are:

irregular verbs present simple

Negative Sentences in the Present Simple Tense

We use don’t/doesn’t for negative sentences except the verb to be.

Don’t/Doesn’t are negative contractions and mean Do not/ Does not.

The third person does not use the s/es in the negative

She doesn’t like chocolate.

It doesn’t do what it is supposed to do.

More example sentences:

I don’t like coffee.

I don’t have a Nintendo Switch.

She doesn’t do her homework.

I am not happy.

You are not the best.

Questions in the Simple Present Tense

We use do/does for questions except the verb to be.

You need to invert the subject and verb to make a question with the verb to be

Let’s look at how to change a sentence from the affirmative to a question in English

You speak English well.

Do you speak English well?

Your friend is OK.

Is your friend OK?

When to use the Present Simple Tense

We use the simple present tense for 3 main reasons in English:

1 For Facts and things that are generally true.

Doctors look after patients in hospitals.

Brazil is a big country.

2 For habits, routines, repeated actions.

I usually go out for dinner on Fridays.

I wake up at 6 am every day.

3 In the future, for events that are fixed in time.

The world cup is in Qatar in 2022.

The train leaves at 8. 

Word order of Do/Does

Do/Does are usually at the start of a sentence.

When we have a WH question we put the question word before Do/Does

Conor
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