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GRAMMAR
Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things
that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years
ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things
that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g., later,
tomorrow, next week, next year, three years from now).
1. Positive sentences
Present Simple
Emphatic do
Normally, for positive sentences we do not use the auxiliary verb do. But if we want to
emphasize (stress) something, we may use it. For example, instead of saying "I like your
dress", we could say "I do like your dress", just to show how much we like it. Here are
some more examples:
am, are, is
subject main
verb be
+ I am French.
- I am not old.
? Am I late?
John drives a taxi.
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and
future.
I want a coffee.
That sounds interesting.
Do you need some help?
I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall.
Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
We are hungry.
The simple present is a verb tense with two main uses. We use the simple present tense
when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly (or unceasingly,
which is why it’s sometimes called present indefinite). Depending on the person, the
simple present tense is formed by using the root form or by adding -s or -es to the end.
I feel great! Pauline loves pie. I’m sorry to hear that you’re sick.
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Pauline practices the piano every day. Ms. Jackson travels during the summer. Hamsters run all
night.
For a few verbs, the third-person singular ends with -es instead of -s. Typically, these are
verbs whose root form ends in o, ch, sh, th, ss, gh, or z.
First-person singular: I go
Second-person singular: You go
First-person plural: We go
Second-person plural: You go
Third-person plural: They go
For most regular verbs, you put the negation of the verb before the verb, e.g. “She won’t
go” or “I don’t smell anything.”
First-person singular: I am
Third-person singular: He/she/it is
Pauline does not want to share the pie. She doesn’t think there is enough to go around. Her friends
do not agree. I don’t want pie anyway.
I am not a pie lover, but Pauline sure is. You aren’t ready for such delicious pie.
The formula for asking a question in the simple present is do/does + [subject] + [root
form of verb].
Do you know how to bake a pie? How much does Pauline love pie?
Rules and Points to Remember When Using the Simple Present Tense
In order to use the simple present tense accurately and effectively, there are some rules and points you have to
keep in mind. This is because of the fact that the sentence or the context would not make sense if the verb does not
agree with the subject in the sentence.
The first thing that you should understand about the simple present tense is that the verb mostly appears in
the base form.
This changes when a third person pronoun or subject is used in a sentence. In this case, the verb used
should be made plural.
The simple present tense is employed in a sentence to represent an action or event that takes place, or just
happened in the given context at the present moment.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the simple present tense form of the verb in a sentence is defined as “the
tense that is used to refer to events, actions, and conditions that are happening all the time, or exist now.” The
Cambridge Dictionary gives a much more elaborate definition of the simple present tense. According to them, “the
present tenses of a verb are the ones that are used to talk about things that happen regularly or situations that exist
at this time. The simple present tense uses the base form or the ‘s’ form of a verb, as in ‘I play tennis twice a week’
and ‘She works in a bank’.”
What are the rules to be followed when using the simple present tense?
There are two main rules you have to follow when using the simple present tense. They are:
The first thing that you should understand about the simple present tense is that the verb mostly appears in
the base form.
This changes when a third person pronoun or subject is used in a sentence. In this case, the verb used
should be made plural.
The basic formula of a positive sentence using the simple present tense is as follows:
Subject + Verb in the base form/third person plural form + the rest of the sentence
Here are a few examples of the simple present tense that you can refer to.
Simple Past Tense – used to indicate an action or event that happened in the past.
Past Continuous Tense – used to depict an action or event that was continuing in the past.
Past Perfect Tense – used to represent an event or action that happened in the past before another event or
action that happened in the past.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense – used to denote an action or event that was taking place in the past until
another action or event happened in the past.
Simple Past Tense Past Continuous Past Perfect Tense Past Perfect
Tense Continuous Tense
Subject + Past Subject + Did + Subject + Base form of Didn’t + Subject + Base form of
tense form of Did not / the verb the verb
the verb Didn’t +
Base form
of the verb
Base Verb Past Form of the Verb Past Participle Form of the Verb
The ‘past tense’ form of a verb, as the term suggests, can be used to speak about or represent an event or action
that already happened in the past. One important point you have to keep in mind is that a number of verbs, when
used in the past tense, do not follow the general rule of adding ‘ed’ to the end of the verb to form the past tense.
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines the term ‘past tense’ as “the form of a verb used to describe actions in the
past.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the past tense form of the verb is “used to describe verb forms in
many languages used for actions that have now finished.” “A verb tense expressing action or state in or as if in the
past”, is the definition of past tense, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The Macmillan Dictionary defines
‘past tense’ as “the forms of a verb group indicating that an action or event happened regularly, or that a situation
existed or was true during a period before now.”
The past tense can be seen to have four different forms namely,
Marcel finished his speech.
Did they go to the hospital?
Nandhini and Padmini were talking about you.
Salim had found the keys before his parents found out about it.
Selena found out that Trinita had not been taking her medicines for the last few weeks.
Didn’t you know about his accident?