The Present Simple Tense
Zion Languages
Pronouns and verbs
These are our pronouns, they are used to I live We live
define who is doing the action (verb). With You live You live
3rd person singular, we can replace it with
the name of a person or a group of people, He/She/it Lives They live
such as Amy, John, the students or the
faculty.
As you can see, the verb is almost always the
Singular Plural same “live”, all except for the third person
1st person I We singular (He/She/It) which adds an ‘s’. In some
cases an ‘es’ is added (like in goes), but we’ll get
2nd person You You
to that later.
3rd person He/She/It They
Uses of the Present Simple Tense
Usage #1: The present simple tense is used to
state general truths and facts:
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Some puppies are yellow.
Five times five equals twenty-five.
Babies eat, sleep and cry.
Flowers need sunlight to grow.
Uses of the Present Simple Tense
Usage #2: The Present Simple Tense is used
for mostly permanent situations (jobs or
hobbies):
I live in Mexico.
Students have a lot of homework.
She works during the night.
Race car drivers drive fast.
He is a chef.
Uses of the Present Simple Tense
Usage #3: The present simple tense is used to
describe the frequency of actions (routine or
habit):
On Saturdays, I have violin class.
Her boyfriend never drinks milk.
You always call your parents on their birthdays.
He brushes his teeth daily.
My children play soccer 3 times per week.
Uses of the Present Simple Tense
Usage #4: The present simple tense is used to
talk about actions set by a time table (can talk
about events in the future):
The flight to Switzerland departs at 5:00pm.
Class starts in 15 minutes.
The football game starts in 2 hours.
She arrives on Sunday at noon.
I turn this assignment in on Friday.
Uses of the Present Simple Tense
Usage #5: The present simple tense is used to My husband is 27 years old.
describe a present state, opinions, states,
feelings, and emotions. She hates art.
Many common verbs include: be, belong, Do you hear that?
seem, think, like, love, hate, hear, smell, see,
I want a new t-shirt.
taste, want.
I think you’re beautiful.
The verb “to be”
The verb to be, is used to express emotions, The verb ‘to be’ is one of the most irregular
location, nationality, age, identity/name and verbs, with 3 different forms in the present
occupation.
simple tense, am (I), are (you, we, they), is
I am happy. (he/she/it).
You are at home.
He is Joshua. I am We are
She is 21 years old. You are You are
We are construction workers. He/She/it is They are
They are Mexican.
The verb “to be”
Each of these forms can also be converted into
contractions, making the two words one with an
apostrophe.
I’m happy.
You’re at home.
He’s Joshua.
She’s 21 years old.
We’re construction workers.
They’re Mexican.
The verb “to be”
To make the sentence negative we add ‘not’
after the verb, in most cases, there are two ways
to do this:
I am not = I’m not We are not = we’re I am not = I’m not We are not = we
not aren’t
You are not = You’re You are not = you’re
not not You are not = you You are not = you
aren’t aren’t
He/she/it is not = They are not =
he’s not/ they’re not
she’s not/ He/she/it is not = They are not = they
it’s not He/she/it isn’t aren’t
The verb “to be”
To form questions with the present simple
and ‘to be’, we conjugate the verb, then we
add the pronoun and then we can add the
rest of the question.
Am I your teacher?
Are you 29 years old?
Is she your girlfriend?
Are we English?
Are they smart?
The verb “to be”
The verb “to be”
These questions give more specific and
detailed answers than just yes or no.
Who are you?
When is he coming?
What am I?
Where are we?
Why is it broken?
How are you?
Other Common Irregular Verbs
Other common irregular verbs include ‘have’,
‘go’ and ‘do’, which change only in the 3rd
person singular to ‘has’, ‘goes’ and ‘does’.
I have 3 friends.
You go to the store.
We do the homework.
Normal verbs
The Present simple tense with normal verbs is
I buy We buy
really easy, you just need to put the pronoun
and the verb, usually in it´s infinitive form You buy You buy
unless its 3rd person singular, (he, she, it),
then you add an -s or an -es at the end. He/She/It buys They buy
I buy bread at the store.
You read a lot of books.
He thinks he´s an astronaut.
She comes home at 3:00 P.M.
We eat thanksgiving dinner.
They want cheese.
Spelling changes
If a verb ends in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, we need to
add an -es to the end of the 3rd person
singular form of the verb.
If a verb ends in a consonant and a -y, we
change the -y to an -i then add -es. This only
happens if they letter before the -y is a
consonant.
If we have a vowel and -y, we just add on an -s
like normal.
The Present Simple Tense
To put the present simple tense in the
negative, we add ‘do not’ or ‘does not’ in
between the pronoun and the verb.
I do not believe you.
You do not study.
He does not like chocolate.
She does not drink.
We do not play at work.
The Present Simple Tense
Yes/no questions
Do I work in an office?
Do you like chocolate?
Does he study hard?
Does she live in New York?
Do we eat pork?
Do they have a dog?
The Present Simple Tense
Answers to Yes/no questions
Yes, I do / No, I don’t
Yes, you do / No, you don’t
Yes, he does / No, he doesn’t
Yes, she does / No, she doesn’t
Yes, it does / No, it doesn’t
Yes, we do / No, we don’t
Yes, they do / No, they don’t
The Present Simple Tense
Who does she live with?
When do you go to work?
What does he do?
Where does she study?
Why do you sleep?
How do you have a million dollars?
Vocabulary
Who, What, Where, When, Why, How
On ___(day of the week).
In ___ (month of the year).
___ times per week/month/year.
In the morning, at night, in the middle of the
day, in the afternoon, in the evening
Always, Frequently, usually, regularly, often,
sometimes, once in a while, rarely, hardly ever,
never
Practice Time!
ALL present simple exercises Normal verbs positive form
Be positive form Normal verbs negative form
Be negative form Normal verbs yes/no question form
Be yes/no question form Normal verbs -wh question form
Be -wh question form REVIEW
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See you next time!