8 February 2017

THE PRESENT SIMPLE

This is a full explanation about the first verb tense we should learn when studying English, THE PRESENT SIMPLE.

At the end of this post you will find some practice.

Enjoy it!

PRESENT SIMPLE: USE.

We use the Present Simple Tense to:

  - describe regular events and premanent states.
  - talk about general truths and facts.
  - talk about habits and routines.


PRESENT SIMPLE: STATEMENTS.

I
You
We
They

play
like



  golf.
He
She
It
plays
likes

To form statements in Present Simple we have to use the following structure:

          S + V (stem) + Complement

In the third person singular we add -s to the verb stem.
But, there are some exceptions:
    - When the verb ends in -ss, -sh, -ch, or -o, we add -es.
    (miss → misses, go → goes)
    - With some verbs ending in -y, we change the -y to -ies.                    
    ( hurry → hurries).

PRESENT SIMPLE: NEGATIVE.

I
You
We
They

do not
don’t



like
play



  golf.
He
She
It
does not
doesn’t

To form a negative statement in Present Simple we have to add the auxiliary verb "DO/DOES" and the negative particle "NOT".

S + don't/doesn't + V (stem) + Complement


Notice that when expressing a negative statement in third person, the  ending -s jumps from the main verb to the auxiliary.

The short form of "do not" is "don't"; and the short form of "does not" is "doesn't".

PRESENT SIMPLE: QUESTIONS.



Do
(I)*
You
We
They



like
play



  golf?

Does
He
She
(It)*
* Not suitable for these examples.

To make questions in Present Simple, we use:

Do/Does + S + V (stem) + Complement + ?


In questions, the ending -s jumps again from the main verb to the auxiliary verb.

SHORT ANSWERS.

Do you like golf? Yes, I do.
Does he play golf? No, he doesn't.

In the short answers we use the Subject + the auxiliary verb, depending on if the answer is negative or affirmative we use do/don't.



LET'S PRACTISE!

Here you have some links where you can put into practice what you have learnt in this lesson. 😉



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