Level 2

Present Simple Revision Material

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE IS USED:

 To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions
and wishes:
I travel a lot (habit); I work in Boston (unchanging situation); Istanbul is a large
city (general truth)

 To give instructions or directions:

You walk for one hundred meters, then you turn left.

 To express fixed arrangements, present or future:

Your course starts at 10.00.

EXAMPLES
 For habits
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly.
 For repeated actions or events
We catch the bus every morning.
It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
They drive to Florida every summer.
 For general truths
Water freezes at zero degrees.
Istanbul is bigger than Izmir.
Her mother is tall.
 For instructions or directions
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
You take the No.6 bus to Wellington and then the No.10 to Congress.
 For fixed arrangements
His friend arrives tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the 15th of July.
FORMING THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE: TO EAT

Positive Question Negative

I eat Do I eat? I do not eat

You eat Do you eat? You do not eat

He/she/it eats Does he eat? He does not eat

We eat Do we eat? We do not eat

They eat Do they eat? They do not eat

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
We often use adverbs of frequency with the present simple. They tell us how often
something happens.
Always (100 %): The students always come to class.
Usually (90%): I usually watch television in the evenings.
Often (50-75%): We often eat breakfast at eight o’clock.
Sometimes (25-50 %): They sometimes go to the cinema.
Rarely (10%): You rarely do your homework.
Never (0%): He never eats ice cream.

Adverbs of frequency go after the verb be.

-I am always hungry.
-He isn’t usually busy.
-They are sometimes late.
Adverbs of frequency usually go before other main verbs.
-I often play tennis.
-We never drink juice.
-You usually stay late at work.
Questions are made with ‘how often.’ (How often do you eat pizza? I never eat pizza.)
PRACTICE
A. Use the verbs from the box below to fill in the gaps in the letter. You may need to change
the form of the verb.

play like work want (x2) say have come go (x2) meet live spend be

Hi Jackie,
How are you? I’m very well. I ____________ to tell you something about a person.

He_____________ with me here in my apartment. His name is Mike and he _____________

from Canada. He _____________ 27 and he ______________ in a big hotel near the centre

of the city. He really ______________ his job and he _____________ it’s because he

_____________ a lot of new people every day from many different countries. On the

weekend, he _______________ swimming and sometimes we ______________ time

together. We _____________ tennis or _______________ windsurfing together. He

_____________ a very pretty girlfriend called Janet and they ______________ to get

married next year!

OK, that’s enough for now. I’ll write again soon.

Sara.

B. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the verb in parentheses.
I (have) _____________ two roommates. One of them, Sam, is always neat and clean. He
(wash) _________________ his clothes once a week. (you, know) ____________________
Matt, my other roommate? He (be) __________________ the opposite of Sam. For example,
Matt (change, not) ___________________ the sheets on his bed. He (keep)
_______________ the same sheets week after week. He (wash, never)
_____________________ his clothes. He (wear) ______________ the same dirty jeans every
day. Sam’s side of the room (be, always) ______________ neat and Matt’s side (be, always)
__________________ a mess. As my mother always (say) _______________, it (take)
________________ all kinds of people to make a world.

C. Complete this magazine article by a businesswoman, using the present simple forms of
the verbs in brackets.
 I usually arrive (arrive) at the office very early. My assistant ________________ (get) me

some coffee. Then I ______________ (have) a meeting with my team of managers.

Sometimes they ______________ (not agree) with everything I say, but the meetings usually

________________ (not last) for very long. I _______________ (not eat) much at lunchtime

– the others ________________ (go) to the canteen but I ________________ (stay) in my

office. My day usually __________________ (finish) at about 6 p.m. I __________________

(not go) to the office every day. I __________________ (work) at home some days.

ERROR CORRECTION
There is one mistake in each question. Find the mistake and correct it.
Remember to circle the letter.

e.g. We usually goes out for dinner on Saturdays, when the weather is nice.
A B C D
Correction: _______ go______

1.A: Do you have a nickname?

A B
B: Yes, I am.
C D
Correction: _________________

2.Our building, like all buildings in this neighbourhood, have a fire alarm.
A B C D

Correction: _________________

3.His son is doctor and he works at a very famous hospital.

A B C D

Correction: _________________

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
Complete the sentences. Use the adverb and the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

1.) Our teacher _______________ (never/be) late for our lessons.

2.) I _______________ (often/clean) my bedroom at the weekend.
3.) My brother _______________ (sometimes/help) me with my homework.
4.) I _______________ (always/be) bored in the history lessons.
5.) We _______________ (rarely/go) to watch the football matches in the stadium.
6.) You and Jack ________________ (never/come) to meet us in the café.
7.) You _______________ (usually/be) very hard-working before an exam.
8.) The bus _______________ (always/arrive) on time.
9.) They _______________ (often/go) to the beach when it’s hot.
10.) She _______________ (rarely/be) hungry after 10 o’clock at night.

Write a true sentence about yourself using each of the following adverbs of frequency:
Always, Usually, Often, Sometimes, Rarely, Never.
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
Now, read your sentences to a partner and after each sentence ask them ‘how often’ they
do that same activity. Take turns reading, asking and answering.
Example:
-I always go to the beach in the summer…How often do you go to the beach in the summer?
 LIKE, LOVE, HATE, PREFER, DECIDE
ENJOY, WANT, WOULD LIKE, NEED
Ex.1. Do we use a gerund (-ing) or infinitive (to) after the verbs above? Put the words above
in the correct category.

Verb + infinitive (to) Verb + gerund (-ing) Verb + gerund or infinitive

Ex.2. Fill in the gaps with the gerund or infinitive form of the verbs in brackets:
1. I like ______ (go) out with friends.
2. She doesn’t want ______ (play) any sport.
3. He hates _______ (cook) so he prefers ________(eat) out.
4. She prefers ________ (swim) to ______________(run).
5. I would like ______ (dance) with you.
6. She needs ______ (save) money to buy a new car
7. He wants ________ (dance) with her.
8. I enjoy _______ (read) all kinds of books.
9. They love ______ (play) games.
10. He decided ______ (travel) abroad.

Ex.3. Decide if the sentence is correct and put a tick. If not, put a cross and write the
correction.

1. She enjoy playing the guitar.

2. They love to listen to music.
3. She needs a new phone.
4. I enjoy reading a book.
5. She hates to watching a film.

Ex. 4. Discuss the questions with a partner using the verb phrases in Ex.1

What do you like doing in your free time?

Where do you prefer to shop? Why?

Where do you usually go in the summer?