Simple Present
FORM Simple Present
EXAMPLE: [ to run]
I run
you run
he runs
she runs
it runs
we run
they run
USE 1 Repeated Actions
Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual.
The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or
something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or
usually does not do.
EXAMPLES:
I play tennis.
She does not play tennis.
The train leaves every morning at 8 am.
The train does not leave at 9am.
She always forgets her purse.
He never forgets his wallet.
Every twelve months, the Earth circles the sun.
The sun does not circle the Earth.
USE 2 Facts or Generalizations
The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true
now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the act.
It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.
EXAMPLES:
Cats like milk.
Birds do not like milk.
California is in America.
California is not in the United Kingdom.
Windows are made of glass.
Windows are not made of wood.
New York is a small city. (It is not important that this fact is untrue.)
USE 3 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
Sometimes speakers use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or
is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-continuous Verbs and certain Mixed
Verbs.
EXAMPLES:
I am here now.
She is not here now.
He needs help right now.
He does not need help now.
He has a car.
ACTIVE / PASSIVE Simple Present
EXAMPLES:
Once a week, Tom cleans the car. ACTIVE
Once a week, the car is cleaned by Tom. PASSIVE
The simple present is used:
1. to express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions
and wishes:
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general
truth)
2. to give instructions or directions:
You walk for two hundred metres, then you turn left.
3. to express fixed arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00
4. to express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as,
until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
Note:
1. he, she, it: in the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
2. Negative and question forms use DOES (=the third person of the auxiliary'DO') + the
infinitive of the verb.
He wants. Does he want? He does not want.
3. Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:
fly flies, cry cries
Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:
play plays, pray prays
4. Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
Important: The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.
Example: to think, present simple
Affirmative Interrogative Negative
I think Do I think ? I do not think.
You think Do you think? You don't think.
he, she, it thinks Does he, she, it think? He, she, it doesn't think.
we think Do we think? We don't think.
you think Do you think? You don't think.