Simple Present

l Form:

Example: to work

 

 

Affirmative	Negative		Interrogative
I   →  work You  →   work   He  \ She → works It   /   We  \  You → work They /	Full Forms	Short Forms	Do    I    work? Do    You  work?               He Does  She  work?              It            We Do    You  work          They
	I  → do not work You  →do not work   He   \ She→ does not work It    /   We   \ You  →do not work They  /	I   → don’t work You → don’t work   He  \ She→ doesn’t work It   /   We   \ You  → don’t work They  /

 

n In the negative and interrogative forms the verb itself does not change, but in the Affirmative with he/ she/It some verbs take either «S», «es» or «ies».

 

n We add «es» to the end of verbs ending in:

«SS» e.g: To miss → misses

«Ch» e.g: To watch  → watches

«Sh» e.g: To wish → wishes

«O» e.g: To go  → Goes

«X» e.g: to fix  →  fixes

 

n Verbs ending in «y» : If the verb ends in a «y» preceded by a vowel (a_e_i_o_u), we just add «S» to the end of the verb:  e.g: To play  → plays.

 

n If the verb ends in a «y» preceded by a consonant, the «y» becames «i» , followed by «es»: 

      e.g: To carry → carries

 

l Uses :

 

n the Simple present tense is used to describe habitual, usual action. The action can be a habit a hobby a daily event or something that often happen.

 

n Example:     She plays tennis/ it goes to school on foot

 

n The simple present is used with adverb of frequency:

Always    100%    e.g: He always reads something before he goes to bed

Usually    75%     e.g: She usually uses the internet to look for the information she needs

Often     50%      e.g: Do you often watch this kind of movies?

Sometimes   25%    e.g: They sometimes have dinner at a restaurant

Rarely/ seldom   5%  e.g: John is all the time busy,he rarely finds time to watch TV

Never       0%      e.g: Ahmed is a Muslim, he never drinks wine

 

n The simple present with every: e.g: We take a test every fortnight (two weeks)

                                                             e.g: Jim visits his aunt every summer

 

n The simple present with; once/ Twice/ Three times...:

            e.g:Muslims go on a pilgrimage once a year

               I play football twice a week

               She takes this medicine 3 times a day

 

n The simple present can also be used with: Occasionally; frequently; very often and quite often.

 

l Exercise:

1)   he / drive to work every day.

2)  I / not / think you're right.

3)  we / have enough time? 

4)  I / eat cereal in the morning.

5)  they / write e-mails every day?

6)  you / watch a lot of TV.

7)  he / not / read the newspaper.

8)  she / dance often?

9)  where / I / come on Mondays? 

10)  what / you / do at the weekend?

11)   you / not / drink much tea.

12)  how / he / travel to work)?

 

Answers:

1) He drives to work every day

2) I don't think you're right.

3) Do we have enough time?

4) I eat cereal in the morning.

5) Do they write e-mails every day?

6) You watch a lot of TV.

7) He doesn't read the newspaper.

8) Does she dance often?

9) Where do I come on Mondays? 

10) What do you do at the weekend?

11) You don't drink much tea.

12) How does he travel to work?