Present Simple

The Present Simple is the most basic and common tense in the English language. Because of its easy form, it is the best tense to start learning/teaching English tenses. It is also an interesting tense because it can express both the present and the future. In the below list, there are 7 uses of this tense. It's a lot, but don't worry: most of them are easy to understand.

We use the Present Simple to talk about universal truths (for example, laws of nature) or things we believe are, or are not, true. It's also used to generalize about something or somebody.

Examples:

• Water boils at 100 degrees Celcius. Universal Truths
• It is a big house. Facts
• The Earth goes around the Sun. Universal Truths, Facts
• Dogs are better than cats. Generalization
• Berlin is the capital city of Germany. Facts
• The Elephant doesn't fly. Facts
• London is the capital city of France. Facts (REMEMBER: the sentence does not have to be true)

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To understand this use better, watch this interactive animation:

Explanation

In this cartoon, you can see a scientist who says: "The Earth goes around the Sun".

• Why is Present Simple used in this sentence? Because the scientist expresses a fact, something that he believes is true (in this case, he is right: the Earth really goes around the Sun).

We also used this tense to describe actions that happen frequently. For example: habits, routines, tendencies.

Examples:

• We leave for work at 7:30 AM every morning. Routine
• My husband watches the TV in the evening. Habit, Routine
• Susan often meets with her friends after school. Habit, Routine
• They usually play football on Sunday. Habit, Routine
• Mark rarely visits his sick grandmother. Tendency
• Pinocchio usually tells lies. Tendency

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To understand this use better, watch this interactive animation:

Explanation

In this cartoon, you can see a boy who says: "I play basketball every Friday" (click on the present button to see this).

• Why is this in Present Simple? Because the boy talks about a habit, something that he does regularly.

Use the Present Simple to talk about situations in life that last a relatively long time.

Examples:

• I live in Boston
• He works as a fireman.
• Margaret drives a Volkswagen.
• Jerry doesn't teach maths at highschool.

Use the Present Simple when an event is certain to happen in the future.

Examples:

• My grandmother turns 100 this July.
• Winter starts on 21 December.

You should use the Present Simple with state verbs.

Examples:

• I like swimming.
• We know this man.

Use the Present Simple to talk about events that we can't change (for example, an official meeting or a train departure).

Examples:

• The meeting starts at 4 PM.
• The train leaves at the noon.
• When does the plane take off?
• Jerry doesn't teach maths at high school.

The Present Simple is also used in narrations (e.g. to tell a story or a joke), instructions (e.g. cooking) or commentaries (especially sport commentaries).

Examples:

• 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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