English Grammar: Present Tense & it’s application

                The Present Simple Tense

   (Also called the simple present tense)

We need to use the Present Simple a lot in English, so it’s really important to understand it well. Many students have problems with the form (or how to make it).

The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they, take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (He takes, she takes).

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE IS USED:

• To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:
  I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth)
• To give instructions or directions:
  You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
• To express fixed arrangements, present or future:
  Your exam starts at 09.00
• To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
  He’ll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

Simple present tense with ‘be’:

The verb ‘be’ is different from the other verbs in this tense. Let’s look at ‘be’ first: Here’s the positive form (positive means a normal sentence, not a negative or a

Question.

This is sometimes called ‘affirmative’):

Next, here’s the negative. It’s very easy. You only add ‘not’.

NOTES ON THE SIMPLE PRESENT, THIRD PERSON SINGULAR

• In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:
  he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
• Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of the auxiliary ‘DO’) + the infinitive of the verb.
  He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla.
• Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:
  fly –> flies, cry –> cries
  Exception: if there is a vowel before the –y:
  play –> plays, pray –> prays
• Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
  he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes

EXAMPLES

• He goes to school every morning.
• She understands English.
• It mixes the sand and the water.
• He tries very hard.
• She enjoys playing the piano.

English Grammar: Present Tense & it’s application properly explained.

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