Present Simple
The Present Simple tense is the most basic tense in English and uses the base
form of the verb (except for the verb be). The only change from the base is the
addition of s for third person singular.
How do we make the Present Simple tense?
There are two basic structures for the Present Simple:
1. Positive sentences
subject + main verb
Present Simple
2. Negative and question sentences
subject + auxiliary do + main verb
conjugated in Present Simple
do, does base
Look at these examples with the main verb like:
subject auxiliary verb main verb
+ I, you, we, they like coffee.
He, she, it likes coffee.
- I, you, we, they do not like coffee.
He, she, it does not like coffee.
? Do I, you, we, they like coffee?
Does he, she, it like coffee?
From the above table, notice the following points...
For positive sentences:
There is no auxiliary verb.
We conjugate the main verb by adding s to the third person singular.
For negative and question sentences:
The auxiliary verb (do) is conjugated in the Present Simple: do, does
The main verb is invariable in base form: base
For negative sentences, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and the
main verb.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the auxiliary verb.
Emphatic do
Normally, for positive sentences we do not use the auxiliary verb do. But if we
want to emphasize (stress) something, we may use it. For example, instead of
saying "I like your dress", we could say "I do like your dress", just to show how
much we like it. Here are some more examples:
I do wish you'd stop.
I do apologize.
You do look smart today.
Present Simple with main verb be
The structure of the Present Simple with the main verb be is:
subject + main verb be
conjugated in Present Simple
am, are, is
Look at these examples with the main verb be:
subject main verb be
+ I am French.
You, we, they are French.
He, she, it is French.
- I am not old.
subject main verb be
You, we, they are not old.
He, she, it is not old.
? Am I late?
Are you, we, they late?
Is he, she, it late?
From the above table, notice the following points...
There is no auxiliary verb, even for questions and negatives.
The main verb (be) is conjugated in the Present Simple: am, are, is
For negative sentences, we insert not after the main verb.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the main verb.
How do we use the Present Simple tense?
We use the Present Simple to talk about:
general time (action verbs)
situations now (stative verbs)
general time and situations now (verb be)
Present Simple for general time
We use the Present Simple tense when:
the action is general
the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
the action is not only happening now
the statement is always true
John drives a taxi.
past present future
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.
Look at these examples:
I live in New York.
The Moon goes round the Earth.
John drives a taxi.
He does not drive a bus.
We meet every Thursday.
We do not work at night.
Do you play football?
Present Simple for now
For stative verbs, we can use the Present Simple to talk about now. Stative verbs
do not describe action. They describe state, and are verbs such as: like, sound,
belong to, need, seem. We can use these verbs with the Present Simple tense to talk
about a situation at the present time, not general.
I want a coffee.
That sounds interesting.
Do you need some help?
past present future
The situation is now.
Present Simple for general time and now
The verb be is always special. It is a stative verb, and we use it in the Present
Simple tense to talk about now situations and about general situations. Look at
these examples of the verb be in the Present Simple tense - some are general and
some are now:
I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall.
past present future
The situation is general. Past, present and future.
Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
We are hungry.
past present future
The situation is now.
This page shows the use of the Present Simple tense to talk about now and
about general time. But note that there are other uses for the Present Simple, for
example in the zero conditional or to talk about the future.
Zero Conditional:
for certainty
If you heat ice, it melts.
We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the condition is always
true, like a scientific fact.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What happens? The ice
melts (it becomes water). You would be surprised if it did not.
Talk about the future.
The future is uncertain. We know the past. We know the present. We do not know
the future. We can be 100% sure or certain about the past and the present. But we
can never be 100% certain about the future. In English there are several structures
and tenses to talk about the future. It is usually the degree of certainty about the
future that decides our choice of structure or tense.
Examples:
will
One of the most common ways to talk about the future is with will, for example: I
will call you tonight. We often call this the "future simple tense", but technically
there are no future tenses in English. In this construction, the word will is a modal
auxiliary verb.
Here are the three main ways that we use will to talk about the future.
No plan
We use will when there is no prior plan or decision to do something before we
speak. We make the decision at the time of speaking. Look at these examples:
Hold on. I'll get a pen.
We will see what we can do to help you.
Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.
