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Present Simple
The Present Simple is the most basic and common tense in the English language. It is also an interesting tense because it can express both the present and the future.
Use
- Facts and generalization
- Habits and routines
- Permanent situations
- State verbs (e.g. be, have, think, know)
- Fixed / official arrangement that we can't change
Apart from the above uses, this tense is also used in:
- Zero Conditional - If it rains, I go play football.
- First Conditional - We won't get our pocket money, if we don't pass this exam.
- In sentences after "when", "before", "till", "after", "as soon as" ("Before you leave, please take the keys").
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The PS is also used in narrations. For example, while telling a story or joke. For example.
A man goes to visit a friend and is amazed to find him playing chess with his dog. He watches the game in astonishment for a while [...]
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Chuck Norris facts aren't funny anymore (Use 4)
Note: Some of the verbs used in the simple form can also be used in the continuous form. That's typically when they have an active meaning or emphasize change (Read more)
Form
Contracted forms (more)
do + not = don'tdoes + not = doesn't
Forming a sentence in the PS is usually a two-step process: first ask yourself who or what performs the action (for example, you, I, they, a mouse, etc.). Next decide what the verb is and conjugate it.
Let's conjugate the verb " to eat":
- I eat
- you eat
- he eats
- she eats
- it eats
- we eat
- you eat
- they eat
As you can see, only verbs used with the 3rd person singular conjugate differently. They will usually get an "s" but there are some exceptions:
Read further about the third person singular.
How to form questions and negative sentences
When forming questions and negative sentences, you do NOT conjugate the verb. (More information below.)
However, inversion takes place in interrogative sentences (questions). If you scroll down this page a bit, you'll find some examples.
In negative sentences we add "not" to the auxiliary verb (does, do), so we end up with contracted forms like "doesn't" or "don't." Again, there are some nice examples below.
Declarative sentences:
| Subject | + | Verb |
| I/a dog etc. | work/go/make |
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Sharks have sharp teeth (Use 1)
| Examples | Use | |
 |
A dog is an animal | (Use 1) |
|
I learn English twice a week | (Use 2) |
|
I have two eggs | (Use 4) |
|
The course starts in April | (Use 5) |
|
I come from Basil | (Use 3) |
 |
||
Questions:
Questions require the auxiliary verb "to do" or, in the 3rd person singular, "does". Keep in mind that when you ask a question you don't need an "s".
Compare these examples:
A:Does she like going to the mountains?
B:Yes, she does
A:Does John have a dog?
B:No, he doesn't.
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Ronaldinho: Yes, I do.
| Auxiliary Verb | + | Subject | + | Verb |
| do/does | I/a dog etc. | work/go/make |
For the verb "to be", we do not use an auxiliary.
- Is he tall?
Does he be tall?
| Examples | Use | |
|
Does Mike often play tennis? | (Use 2) |
|
Do you know who my friend is? | (Use 3) |
|
Is China in Europe? | (Use 1) |
|
What do you do? (what's your occupation?) | (Use 3) |
Negative sentences:
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb+not | + | Verb |
| I/a dog etc. | don't/doesn't/do not | work/go/make |
| Examples | Use | |
|
They don't live in New York anymore | (Use 3) |
|
I don't like winter | (Use 4) |
|
They don't live in New York anymore | (Use 3) |
|
He doesn't go to the cinema at all | (Use 2) |
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He likes chewing gum. (Use 4)