PRESENT TENSES

A. Present Simple
 is the tense that refers to: repeated actions, preferences, general truths and
scheduled events.
 requires the first form of the verb. (Verbs have three forms);
 is used for repeated actions, preferences, general truths and scheduled events.
 repeated actions – daily routine: I wake up at 7 every day.
 repeated actions – habits: I usually swim at the weekend.
 likes and dislikes: I like horror movies.
 general truths: Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
 generalizations: People talk too much.
 scheduled events: The plane takes off at 9.
 is often marked by explicit or implicit adverbs or time expressions that
indicate frequency.
 always, usually, regularly, normally, often, sometimes, occasionally, rarely,
seldom, never (adverbs of frequency)
 every day = daily, every week = weekly, every month = monthly, every year
= yearly
 once a day, twice a week, three times a month, four times a year
 in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night
 on Mondays, on Thursdays, on Saturdays etc.

 How do I form Present Simple?

Affirmative
Subject + Verb 1 + (...)
 e.g.: I (subject) wake up (verb) at 7 every day.

1st person, sg. → I read daily. 1st person, sg. → I often watch TV.
3rd person, sg. → He reads daily. 3rd person, sg. → He often watches TV.

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Remember that:
o For the 1st person (sg. and pl.), the 2nd person (sg. and pl.) and the 3rd person pl., the
verb has the same form. Only the 3rd person sg. functions differently.
o The verb is used in its first form, e.g.: I read. The first form is the infinitive form without
to. At the 3rd person sg., we add an s at the end of the verb, e.g.: He reads.
o Some verbs take an es (instead of an s) at the end for the 3rd person sg., e.g.: He watches
TV.
o The verbs to be and to have behave differently:
a) See how to use the verb to be;
La afirmativ, ordinea elementelor în propoziţie este:( Subiect + Verb + (...) )
♦ Subiect (I) + Verb Copulativ (am) + Nume Predicativ (Jeremy / Romanian).
La interogativ, Subiectul şi Verbul se inversează. (Verb + Subiect + (...) + ?)
♦ Am I Jeremy? / Am I Romanian?
La negativ, după Subiect şi Verb, apare not. (Subiect + Verb + not + (...) )
♦ I am not Jeremy. / I am not Romanian.
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 Atenţie! În limba engleză, propozițiile nu sunt niciodată eliptice de subiect. Cu alte
cuvinte, nu putem omite subiectul, așa cum facem în limba română. Vom spune întotdeauna
I am Romanian, chiar dacă în limba română putem spune doar Sunt român (fără Eu).
 Pentru răspunsul scurt negativ, putem folosi prescurtări foarte utile în exprimarea curentă.
Astfel:
Am I Romanian? → No, I'm not.
Are you Austrian? → No, you're not; No, you aren't.
Is he French? → No, he's not; No, he isn't.
Is she German? → No, she's not; No, she isn't.
Is it Spanish? → No, it's not; No, it isn't.
Are we English? → No, we're not; No, we aren't.
Are you American? → No, you're not; No, you aren't.
Are they Japanese? → No, they're not; No, they aren't.
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b) The verb to have has an irregular form for the 3rd person sg. → He has an
apple.
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 Interrogative
Do / Does + Subject + Verb 1 + (...) +?
 e.g.: Do I (subject) wake up (verb) at 7 every day?

1st person, sg. → Do I read daily? 1st person, sg. → Do I often watch TV?
3rd person, sg. → Does he read daily? 3rd person, sg. → Does he often watch TV?

Remember that:
o In interrogative sentences, we use the auxiliary verbs DO or DOES.
o We use DO for the 1st and 2nd persons (sg. and pl.) and for the 3rd person pl. We use
DOES for the 3rd person sg.
o In interrogative sentences, we do NOT add S or ES at the end of the verb for the 3rd
person sg.
o The short answer for a Present Simple question is:
 Affirmative: Yes, I do (for I, you, we, you, they) or Yes, he does (for he, she,
it)
 Negative: No, I don't = No, I do not (for I, you, we, you, they) or No, he
doesn't = No, he does not (for he, she, it)

Negative
Subject + Do Not / Does Not + Verb I + (...)
 e.g.: I (subject) do not wake up (verb) at 7 every day.

1st person, sg. → I do not read daily. 1st person, sg. → I do not watch TV often.
3rd person, sg. → He does not read daily. 3rd person, sg. → He does not watch TV often.

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Remember that:
o In negative sentences, we use the auxiliary verbs DO or DOES and the adverb NOT.
o We use DO NOT for the 1st and 2nd persons (sg. and pl.) and for the 3rd person pl.
o We use DOES NOT for the 3rd person sg.
o In negative sentences, we do NOT add s or es at the end of the verb for the 3rd person sg.
o The short form of do not is don't. The short form of does not is doesn't. e.g.: I don't like
horror movies. He doesn't like action movies.
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Adverb placement
 Place adverbs after the subject and the verb. e.g.: I walk every day. Do I walk every day?
I don't walk every day.
 With adverbs of frequency, things are a bit more complicated.

Adverbs of frequency
 always, usually, regularly, normally, often, sometimes, occasionally, rarely, seldom, never;

 I always learn.
 You normally wake up at 7.
 He never thinks of money.
 We often listen to music.

Nouns – Periods of time

 day, week, weekend, month, year, season;

Times of the day

 morning, afternoon, evening, night, midday, midnight;

Days of the week

!!! The days of the week are always written in capital letter!!!
 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday;

Months of the year

!!!The months of the year are always written in capital letter!!!

 January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November,
December

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Seasons
 spring, summer, autumn, winter

Adverbs
 every day, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, once, twice, three times, etc.;

 You eat twice a day.

 I wake up at 7 every day.
 He plays football on Tuesdays.
 She drinks water daily.

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 Did you know that?

 The first form of the verb is also called the present simple form. We also refer to it as to
the infinitive form.

 Seldom is the more formal equivalent of rarely.

 We use phrasal verbs (verbs with more than one element) in the 3rd person sg. like this:
 He wakes up at 6.
 It takes off at 9.

 We add s or es at the end of the main verb, not at the end of the entire phrasal verb.

 Verbs with more than one element are called phrasal verbs (wake up, take off).

 They contain a verb and an adverb or a preposition.

 The meaning of the phrasal verb is often different from the meaning of the main
verb (wake, take). e.g.: to take = a lua, to take off = a decola
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