Present simple: form

We use the base form of the verb and add -s for the third person singular.

I, you, we, they work.

+
she, he, it works.

I, you, we, they (Full form) do not

she, he, it does not

− work.
(Short form)
I, you, we, they
don’t
she, he, it
doesn’t

Do I, you, we, they

?+ work?
Does she, he, it

(Full form)
I, you, we, they
Do not
she, he, it
Does
?− work?
(Short form)
I, you, we, they
Don’t
she, he, it
Doesn’t

Present simple: spelling

For most verbs we add -s to the base form to make she, he, it (third person singular) form:

come → comes order → orders travel → travel

 s

record → record
eat → eats walk → walks
s

move → move
s

Present simple: uses.

General truths and facts

We use the present simple to talk about general facts that are always true and
permanent about the world:
Ten times ten makes one hundred. (10 x 10 = 100)
There is always a holiday on the last Monday in August in the UK.
Time passes very quickly when you get older.
We use the present simple to talk about general facts that we think are true and
permanent at the present time:
I really love my job.
Mrs. Clare doesn’t teach me, but she teaches my sister.
Do you live in Glasgow? My cousin lives there too.
Spiders don’t frighten me.
Martha does what she wants. No one tells her what to do.

Regular and habitual events

We use the present simple to talk about regular or habitual events. We often
use always, often, usually, sometimes, never and other frequency adverbs for regular
and habitual events:
How do you get to work? Do you get the bus?
I read every night before I go to sleep.
We always have a holiday in the summer. We never work in August.
We usually fly to France when we go. Loera doesn’t like the ferry. It makes her feel
sick.

Instructions and directions

We use the present simple when we are giving instructions or directions. We often use
ordering words, such as and, first and then with this use of the present simple:
[giving directions]
You take the train into the city center and then you take a number five bus.
You don’t get off at the museum. You get off at the stop after the museum.
[giving instructions before a test]
So what you do is … you read the questions first and then you write down your
answers in the box. You don’t write on the question paper.

Stories and commentaries

We often use the present simple to describe a series of actions – one action after
another. We see this especially in stories, summaries of stories or reviews:
[talking about the series of events in a novel]
Alex doesn’t ring back at midnight … she waits till the morning to ring, and
they get annoyed with Liz when she goes on … they know she’s got plenty of
money by their standards …
The present simple is often used by sports commentators to give commentaries or
report actions as they are happening:
Marwari Benjamin fouls Cahill. Haysi takes the free kick,
Saucedo shoots and volleys. O’Brien blocks.

Immediate reactions

We use the present simple, often with verbs of senses and perception, to talk about
feelings and reactions at the moment of speaking:
Do you think that meat is ok to eat? It doesn’t smell very good.
Where does it hurt?
[talking about the color of a dress]
I don’t like the color. I think I look terrible.
It seems a bit quiet in here. Where is everyone?
Present continuous: form
We use am, are, is + the -ing form of the verb. We use the short form more often than
the full form, especially when speaking.

I, (full form)

you, we, am
they are,
she, he, it is
+ working.
(short form)
I,
’m
you, we, they
’re
she, he, it
’s

I, (full form)

you, we, am not

they are not
she, he, it is not
− working.
(short form)
I,
’m not
you, we, they
’re not or aren’
she, he, it
t’s not or isn’t

Am I
? working
Are, you, we, they
+ ?
Is she, he, it

? (full form) I no working

− t ?
you, we,
 Am
they
Are
she, he, it
Is

(short form)
I, you, we, they
Aren’t
she, he, it
Isn’t

Present continuous: -ing form spelling

For most verbs we add -ing to the base form to make the -ing form:

eat → eatin order → orderin

be → being
g g

cry → cryin
fix → fixing play → playing
g

do → doing go → going

For other verbs the spelling changes are (note the underlined syllables are stressed):

verb -ing form

move moving

When the verb ends in -e, we take off the -e and add -ing. face facing

come coming
 commit committing

prefer preferring

rub rubbing
When the verb ends in a vowel followed by a single consonant and
if the last syllable is stressed, then the consonant is doubled.
BUT:
covering
cover

remembe rememberin
r g

travel travelling*
When the verb ends in a vowel + l, we double the consonant.
control controlling

* American English spelling is traveling.

See also:
 Regular verbs
 Irregular verbs
 Spelling

Present continuous: uses.

Events at the time of speaking

We use the present continuous to talk about events which are in progress at the
moment of speaking:
A:

What time’s dinner?

B:

I’m cooking now so it’ll be ready in about half an hour.

She’s pressing the button, but nothing is happening.

Temporary states

We use the present continuous to talk about temporary states which are true around the
moment of speaking:
Her mother’s living with her at the moment. She’s just come out of hospital.
Who’s looking after the children while you’re here?

Repeated temporary events

We use the present continuous to describe actions which are repeated or regular, but
which we believe to be temporary:
I’m not drinking much coffee these days. I’m trying to cut down.
She’s working a lot in London at the moment. (She doesn’t usually work in London.)

Change

We use the present continuous to talk about a gradual change:

They’re building a new stand at the football ground.
Maria, 37, is getting better and doctors are optimistic she will make a full recovery.
Recent evidence suggests that the economic situation is improving.

Regular unplanned events

We often use the present continuous with words

like always, constantly, continually and forever (adverbs of indefinite frequency) to
describe events which are regular but not planned, and often not wanted:
My wife, she’s always throwing things out. I like to keep everything.
I’m constantly spilling things.

Plans and arrangements.

We use the present continuous to refer to the future when we talk about plans and
arrangements that have already been made:
We’re moving to Cambridge in July.
Sarah isn’t taking Rory to football training later. She hasn’t got the car tonight.
Aren’t you playing tennis on Saturday?
See also:
 Future: present continuous to talk about the future (I’m working tomorrow)

Past simple: form

For regular verbs, we add -ed to the base form of the verb (work–worked) or -d if the
verb already ends in e (move–moved).

I, she, he, it, you, we,

+ worked.
they

I, she, he, it, you, we, (full form)

they did not
− work.
(short form)
I, she, he, it, you, we, they
didn’t

work
?+ Did I, she, he, it, you, we, they
?

(full form)
Did I, she, he, it, you, we, they not
work
?–
?
(short form)
Didn’t I, she, he, it, you, we, they

In regular one-syllable verbs with a single vowel followed by a consonant, we double the
final consonant when adding -ed to make the past simple:
stop: The bus stopped suddenly.
plan: Who planned this trip?
See also:
 Spelling and verb forms
  Regular verbs

Past simple: pronunciation of -ed

For regular verbs, there are three possible pronunciations of -ed endings.

/d/ /t/ /ɪd/

after all vowel sounds and after

voiced consonants (except /d/) after all voiceless consonants
after /d/ and /t/
(except /t/)/k/ /p/ /f/ /s/ /ʃ/ /tʃ/
/m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /g/ /dʒ/ /z/ /b/ /v/

cried, tried, hurried, weighed,

picked, hopped, laughed, decided, ended, landed,
smiled, planned, judged,
crossed, pushed, watched started, visited, waited
sneezed, lived

See also:
 Spelling and verb forms

Past simple: irregular verbs

Many verbs are irregular. Here are some common ones. Each one has to be learnt.
The verb form is the same for all persons (I, you, she, he, it, we, they), and we make
questions and negatives with irregular verbs in the same ways as for regular verbs.

irregular
example in the past simple
verb

be She was afraid.

begin The meal began with soup.

come Everyone came to my house for the weekend.

irregular
example in the past simple
verb

do Look what I did!

eat The birds ate all of the bread.

fly We flew from New York to Mexico City.

have She had such a good time.

know We knew each other well in college.

read I read that book last year. (/red/)

sing Her sister sang a beautiful song at the party.

tell He told me a funny story.

wake When she woke up, it was already 1 pm!

I wrote him an email to explain why I couldn’t meet

write
him.

See also:
 Irregular verbs
 Verbs
 Table of irregular verbs

Past simple: uses

Definite time in the past

We use the past simple to talk about definite time in the past (often we specify when
something happened, e.g. yesterday, three weeks ago, last year, when I was young):
Did you watch that film yesterday?
He left at the end of November.
When they were young, they hated meat.
See also:
 Present simple (I work)

Single or habitual events or states

We use the past simple to talk about single or regular (habitual) events or states in the
past.

Events that He fell off his bike and his friends took him to a doctor.
happened
once She ran out and she phoned my brother.

They trave

velled to Italy every summer and

always stayed in small villages on the coast.
As children, we played all kinds of games on the
street.

Events that
happened She looked a bit
more than States upset.
once
Did you feel afraid?

When we use the past simple to refer to habitual events, the meaning
is similar to used to:
I did a lot of travelling when I was younger. (or I used to do a lot of
travelling when I was younger.)
See also:
  Used to or would?

The past simple with no time reference

Sometimes there is no time expression when the past simple is used.

This happens especially when we know the time:
Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. (From our general
knowledge, we know that Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa a
few hundred years ago.)
Compare

Do you know Grace? She was in

Do you know Grace? She was in my
my class at primary school in the
class at primary school.
70s.

Past simple without a definite time Past simple with a definite time
reference: both speakers know when reference: the speaker is not sure
this time was and do not need to say if the listener knows when she
it. They know each other well. was at primary school.

Past simple and the order of events

When one past event happens after another, the first one mentioned
in the past simple happened first and the second one happened next,
and so on. If we change the order of the verbs, this changes the
meaning.
Compare

[event 1]I
turned off the
light and [event 2]got The first event in the past simple happened
into bed. first. The second event in the past simple
happened second, and so on.