Present Continuous
Present Simple
Present Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect
Past Simple
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous
Future Simple
Future Continuous
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Continuous
Present Simple
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This is without doubt the most important tense in the English language and we use it in a great number of very different situations in our lives. To encourage you to have a look at the below thorough description of the Present Simple, I must say that this tense is relatively easy to understand for people learning English, which is also why it is the best tense to learn first. OK, now it's time to have a look at the uses of this tense:
Use
- Facts and generalization
- Habits and routines
- Permanent situations
- State verbs (e.g. be, have, think, know) more
- Fixed / official arrangement that we can't change
Note: Apart from all 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").
- 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").
| He likes chewing gum. |
The PS is also used in narrations. For example, while telling a story or joke. Read the beginning of a joke below:
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 [...]
- I eat
- you eat
- he eats
- she eats
- it eats
- we eat
- you eat
- they eat
- Sharks have sharp teeth (Use 1)
- Is he tall?
Does he be tall?- Fish don't smoke cigarettes (Use 1)
- always
- never
- frequently/often
- usually
- seldom/rarely
- nowadays
- every week/year
- sometimes/occasionally
- from time to time
|
Flash2
|
Chuck Norris bites frost |
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
The tables below show you how to create a sentence in the PS. As I mentioned above it's rather simple: you just have to know the base form of the verb (for example, go) and the performer of the action.
We need to know that because it allows us to conjugate correctly.
As you can see, only verbs used with the 3rd person singular conjugate differently. They will usually get -s but there are some exceptions:
Read further about the third person singular.
So what about questions and negative sentences?
There are even easier to understand because the base verb stays the same. However, as always 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), in this way getting contracted forms like doesn't or don't. Again, there are some nice examples below.
Positive sentences:
| Subject | + | Verb |
| I/a dog etc. | work/go/make |
Flash3
|
| 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 (interrogative sentences):
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.
| Flash4
|
Speaker 1: Ronaldinho, do you like playing football? 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.
| 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) |
Flash3
|
To describe how often an action that takes place, you can use adverbs of frequency. For example :
Here are a few examples of how to use them in sentences:
| Examples | |
|
I always go to church on Sundays |
|
I never eat anything after 10 p.m. |
|
My computer freezes from time to time -- it's quite old |
Read more about adverbs of frequency.
# Does he be tall?
Isn't this wrong?
I mean it's obviously wrong but there isn't any thing saying that it's wrong...
crossed out.i like nnnn hate english!!!