English Verb Tenses

Present Simple Form 

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

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’)

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

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

Negative	Negative 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

And finally let's talk about the question form of the present simple with 'be'.
Firstly, here's the 'yes / no' question form:

Yes / No Questions

am I ?

are you ?

is he ?

is she ?

is it ?

are we ?

are they ?

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 ?

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

• Don't forget the ‘s’! Even really advanced students do this!
• For a few verbs, there is a spelling change before the ‘s’. For example, ‘study’ becomes ‘studies’
• There are also few verbs which are irregular in the present simple:
  1. 'have' becomes 'has'
  2. 'do' becomes 'does'
  3. 'go' becomes 'goes'

To make the negative form, you need to use ‘do not’ (don't) or ‘ does not’ (doesn't).

Negative (of 'play')
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

How about the question form of the present simple tense?
We use ‘do’ or ‘does’ before the subject to make the 'yes / no' question:

Yes / No questions

do I play ?

do you play ?

does he play ?

does she play ?

does it play ?

do we play ?

do they play ?

Just like with 'be', if you'd like to make a ‘wh’ question, you just 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 ?

                                                    Present Simple Use 

 now you know how to make present simple. But how do we use it? In fact, we use this tense in several different situations: heres 4 examples:



1: we use the Present Simple when something is generally true.

• The sun rises in the east.
• People need food.
• It snows in winter.
• The sky isn’t green.
• Water boils at 100°C.
• Plants die without water.
• Two and two make four.

2:  we need to use this tense for a situation that we think is more or less permanent.

• Where do you live?
• She works in a bank.
• They love coffee.
• She has three children.
• I am married.
• I don't like mushrooms.

3: The next use is for habits or things that we do regularly. We often use adverds of frecuency in this  case.

• Do you smoke?
• I play tennis every Tuesday.
• We often go to the cinema.
• She gets up at seven o'clock every day.
• At the weekend, we usually go to the market.
• How often do you study English?
• I don't travel very often.

4: we use the Simple Present to talk about what happens in books, plays, or films:

• The hero dies at the end of the film.
• A young woman travels through Europe, where she meets different people, and 
• finally falls in love.
• In this book, an army invades Britain.
• The main character is very pretty and works in a bookshop.