Present simple form
0 likes352 views
The document discusses the present simple tense in English. It explains the forms of to be (am, is, are) in positive, negative, and question forms. It then explains the forms of other verbs like play, which add -s in third person singular positive forms and use do/does for negatives and questions. Questions can be yes/no or "wh" questions by placing the question word at the start. The present simple tense is used to express habitual or repeated actions.
Present simple form
- 1. The Present Simple Tense (also called the Simple Present Tense) 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’): Positive Positive Short Form I am I'm you are you're he is he's she is she's it is it's we are we're they are they're For example: • I’m Scottish. • She’s hungry. • They’re always late. Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add ‘not’: egative egative short form I am not I'm not you are not you aren’t he is not he isn't she is not she isn’t it is not it isn't we are not we aren't they are not they aren't For example: • I’m not cold. • He isn’t from Spain. • We aren’t at home. © 2012 www.perfect-english-grammar.com 1 May be freely copied for personal or classroom use.
- 2. Here's the 'yes / no' question form: Yes / o Questions am I ? are you ? is he ? is she ? is it ? are we ? are they ? For example: • Am I next in the queue? • Are you from Tokyo? • Is he at the library at the moment? If you'd like to make a ‘wh’ question, you just put the question word at the front: Wh Questions Where am I ? What are you ? Why is he ? Who is she ? When are we ? How are they ? For example: • Where are you from? • Who is that girl? • Why are they still at work? © 2012 www.perfect-english-grammar.com 2 May be freely copied for personal or classroom use.
- 3. Present simple tense with other verbs: With all other verbs, we make the present simple in the same way. The positive is really easy. It's just the verb, with an extra ‘s’ if the subject is ‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’. Let's take the verb ‘play’ as an example: Positive (of 'play') I play you play he plays she plays it plays we play they play For example: • I play tennis every week. • He likes chocolate. • They usually go to the cinema on Fridays. Don't forget the ‘s’! Even really advanced students do this! For a few verbs, there is a spelling change with ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘it’ before the ‘s’. For example, ‘study’ becomes ‘studies’. (See spelling changes PDF for more information). . There are also few verbs which are irregular in the present simple: • 'have' becomes 'has' • 'do' becomes 'does' • 'go' becomes 'goes' To make the negative form, you need to use ‘do not’ (don't) or ‘ does not’ (doesn't): egative (of 'play') egative Short Form I do not play I don't play you do not play you don't play he does not play he doesn't play she does not play she doesn't play it does not play it doesn't play we do not play we don't play they do not play they don't play For example: • You don’t study very much. • Julie doesn’t like sport. • We don’t live in London. © 2012 www.perfect-english-grammar.com 3 May be freely copied for personal or classroom use.
- 4. We use ‘do’ or ‘does’ before the subject to make the 'yes / no' question: Yes / o questions do I play ? do you play ? does he play ? does she play ? does it play ? do we play ? do they play ? For example: • Do you work in an office? • Does John play cricket every weekend? • Do they like travelling? Just like with 'be', if you'd like to make a ‘wh’ question, you put the question word at the front: Wh Questions Where do I play ? What do you play ? Why does he play ? Who does she play ? When do we play ? How do they play ? For example: • Where do you live? • What does she like to eat? • Why do they work so hard? © 2012 www.perfect-english-grammar.com 4 May be freely copied for personal or classroom use.