The girl is making a cake now.

(present
continuous)
The girl makes cake every day. (Simple Present
Tense)

They are running now.

(Present Continuous Tense)

They run all the time.

(Simple Present Tense)
When you talk about things that you are doing right now,
you use the “ing” form of the verb. It’s called the present
continuous tense.

Be + verb+ing

I am walking.

She is talking.

They are dancing.

But when you have to talk about things
that you do constantly, every day or as a
habit, you must use the “Simple Present
Tense”.
Let’s look at the structure of the simple present tense now.

You simply have to add the base form of the verb after the

subject.
All sentences must have a subject and a verb.

I eat (eat is the verb)

Subject

The subject does the action of the verb.

A verb is a word that shows actions:

Verbs can show physical actions. – Run, swim, eat, talk.

Physical actions are actions that you do with your body.

Verbs can show mental actions. – think, plan, imagine,

believe

Practice pronouncing these tongue twisters:

Find a fat fish and fry it with your favourite/favorite fruits.

Beavers never ever have fever.

Vampires live in caves and caravans with doves and leaves.

Mental actions are verbs that you do with your mind or

brain.

Stative Verbs: Stative verbs show a state:

The rose smells good. (Stative Verb – the verb smells shows

a state here).

I smell the roses in my garden. (Action Verb – Dynamic

Verbs)
Dynamic verbs are also called action verbs. There are 2

types of action verbs:

Physical action verbs

Mental action verbs

All sentences must have a subject and a verb.

For example:

Dogs bark.
The subject is dogs.

The action is bark. So, the verb is bark.

The subject can be a noun or a pronoun, noun phrase.

Dogs bark.

They bark.

Beautiful dogs bark.

Nouns are the names of people, places, things, ideas,

organizations, processes, events and animals.

E.g. man, dog, cat, country, city, sea, flower, rock,

Sanjeewa, Ayesha, doctor, teacher, cleaner, driver.

Most nouns have plural forms:

Singular Plural

Man Men

Dog Dogs

Cat Cats

Country Countries

City Cities

Sea Seas
Flower Flowers

Rock Rocks

Pronouns that we can use as the subject are:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they [subjective case pronouns]

Me and my mother. [wrong]

My mother and I [correct]

Me – Object –

Tom touched me.

Tom touched I. [wrong]

Objective case pronouns – me, you, him, her, us, them

Please scroll down:

If our subject is I, You, We, They or any plural noun we

simply have to add the base form of the verb in simple

present.

Base/Root form of verbs:

Run

Make

Eat
Read

Dance

Sing

Base Form – Make Base Form – Run Base Form - Eat

I make cake. I run. I eat.

Do I make cake? I do not run. I do not eat.

I do not make cake. I don’t run. I don’t eat.

Do + subject + not + You run. You eat.

main verb You do not run. We eat.

+remainder?

Do I not make cake? We run. They eat.

I don’t make cake. They run. The girls eat.

Don’t I make cake? The boys run. People eat.

You make cake. People run.

You do not make

cake.

You don’t make

cake.

We make cake.

We do not make

cake.
We don’t make cake.

They make cake.

They do not make

cake.

They don’t make

cake.

People make cake.

People do not make

cake.

People don’t make

cake.

Organizations hire

new employees each

month.
Books are a great

source of knowledge.

Trees are

indispensable.

Sri Lanka and India

are famous.
Base Form – Read Base Form – Sing Base Form -

Dance

I read. I sing. I dance.

I do not read. You sing. You dance.

You read. We sing. We dance.

You do not read. They sing. They dance.

We read. The musicians The friends

We do not read. sing. dance.

They read.

They do not read.

The children read.

The children do not

read.
Contemplate – to think carefully/thoughtfully
Consider- to think

Treat -

Vilify -to treat someone as a villain

Cling –

Clasp -

Wobble – to shake
Gobble – to eat

I, you, we, they, people, animals, people and animals,

doctors, nurses, attendants, helpers, cleaners.

Medical Field – doctors, nurses, attendants, cleaners,

radiologists, phlebotomists, pharmacists, assistants,

receptionists, patients, children, adults, dentists, legs

I contemplate decisions before I implement them.

Doctors consider patients’ previous health conditions.

Receptionists treat customers well.

Attendants vilify patients.

Children cling onto their parents when they are at the

dentists.

Patients clasp doctors when they get cardiac treatment.

Your legs wobble when you get high fever.

I gobble rice when I am late for work. [correct]

When I late go work. [wrong]

* He, she, it and singular nouns are called third person

singular.
If our subject is he, she, it or any singular noun, you simply

have to add “s” at the end of the verb in simple present

tense.

Base Form Third person Singular – Add “s” to the end of

- Eat the verb – he, she, it, singular nouns

I eat He eats (positive/affirmative sentence)

I do not He does not eat. (negative sentence)

eat. He doesn’t eat meat.

I don’t eat. She eats

You eat She does not eat

We eat She doesn’t eat

They eat It eats

People eat It does not eat.

It doesn’t eat.
Jenny eats

Jenny doesn’t eat.

Jenny does not eat.

Tom eats

Tom does not eat.

The dog eats

The cat eats

 The angel sings.

The movie ends on a sad note.

The movie doesn’t end on a sad note.

My boss yells loudly.

The country produces a lot of wheat.

The river near my house looks pretty.

This river gives us water.

He, She, It, Singular noun
Grasp

Grab

The thief grasps the lady’s money.

I am very busy these days.

Idioms –

I have a lot on my plate [I’m very busy]

I have a lot on my plate these days. So, I always grab my

lunch from the café at work.

The doctor has a lot on his plate these days. So, we can’t

book an appointment with him.

Turn to custard/Go pear shaped – to go wrong/ruin

I’m planning on having an outdoor birthday party. If it rains,

things will go to custard/things will go pear shaped.

We are planning to going. If it is fuel shortage plan will go

to custard.

We are planning to go hiking/on a trip. If there is a fuel

shortage, the plan will go to custard/turn pear-shaped.

Please scroll down:

Italy’s capital is Rome.

Rome is the capital of Italy.

The roof of the car [correct]

The car’s roof [wrong]

Please scroll down:

Run, talk, walk

My father runs slowly.

Rashmi talks very nicely.

She walks every morning.

Say the correct form of the verb. Write the negative forms:

Base Form Third person Singular – Add “s” to the end of

- Run the verb

I run He runs
You run She runs

We run It runs

They run Jenny runs

People run Tom runs

The dog runs

The cat runs

Say the correct form of the verb. Write the negative forms:

Base Form Third person Singular – Add “s” to the end of

- Dance the verb

I dance He dances.

You dance She dances

We dance It dances.

They dance Jenny dances

People Tom dances

dance The dog dances

The cat dances

If the verb ends in a consonant + y, drop the y and add ies

with third person singular subjects in simple present tense.

b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z (Consonants)
Base form – Carry, worry, Third Person singular

bury, marry, fly

I carry He carries

You worry He does not carry.

They bury He doesn’t carry.

We marry She worries

People marry It buries.

 Jenny marries

Tom marries

The cat carries

the dog carries

Scroll down please:

If a verb ends in a vowel + y, simply add “s”. Vowels – a, e, i,

o, u.
Buy

Base form - buy Third Person Singular

I buy He buys

You buy She buys

We buy It buys

They buy Jenny buys

People buy Tom buys

Please scroll down:

If a verb ends in x, ch, sh, ss, o, z we must add “es” at the

end of the verb. Make the negative forms of these

sentences:

Base form – Third person singular

I watch He watches

You mix She mixes

They wash Jenny washes

People kiss Tom kisses

You do It does

They go He does

Buzz – To move around Goes

quickly The bee buzzes

The mosquito buzzes.

She buzzes in and our of the

office every day.

I watch TV.

You mix fruits in a bowl.

They wash dishes.

People kiss their children.

We do the dishes.

I buzz around in the office all

day.

The bees buzz around.

Eradicate – The government eradicates income tax.

Exploit – The political leader exploits his power.

Mess – She messes her room by throwing her toys on the

ground.

The child messes the house by drawing doodles all over the

walls.

Guess - guesses
He guesses that he will pass the A/L exams.

Activity – Make sentences with the following verbs:

marry

worry

carry
I marry.

I don’t marry/I do not marry.

You marry.

You do not marry.

We marry.

We do not marry.
He marries

He doesn’t marry.

He does not marry.

She marries

She does not marry.

It marries
It does not marry.

Speaking Activity -

When I start my day, the first thing I do is, I attend a

morning meeting with my executives.

I visit the office.

I do not visit the office.

You run your own business.

I clean my shop in the morning.

I do not clean my shop in the morning.

I cut vegetables. /veg-tables/

I don’t cut vegetables.

I dice fruits.

I do not dice fruits.

I knead dough to make bread.

I do not knead dough to make bread.

I serve customers.

I do the accounts.

Simple Present tense questions:

Do/Does + subject + main verb +remainder?

Do/Does + subject + not + main verb + remainder?

I eat rice. Do I eat rice?

Do I not eat rice?

Don’t I eat rice?

You play hockey. Do you play hockey?

Do you not play hockey?

Don’t you play hockey?

He makes cake. Does he make cake?

Does he not make cake?

Doesn’t he make cake?

She eats rice. Does she eat rice?

Does she not eat rice?

Doesn’t she eat rice?

Jenny makes cake. Does Jenny make cake?

Does Jenny not make cake?

Doesn’t Jenny make cake?

We eat fruits. Do we eat fruits?

Do we not eat fruits?

Don’t we eat fruits.

They love chocolate. Do they love chocolate?

Do they not love chocolate?

Don’t they love chocolate?

People produce flour. Do people produce flour?

Do people not produce flour?

Don’t people produce flour?