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Present Simple of be

Statements or Affirmative Sentences

I am Im He is Hes She is Shes You are Youre We are Were

It is Its

They are Theyre

Negative sentences
I am not Im not He is not He isnt She is not She isnt You are not You arent We are not We arent

It is not It isnt

They are not They arent

Questions
Am I? Is he? Are you?

Is she?
Is it?

Are we?
Are they?

Examples
With ages Carlos is fifteen. Anna is fourteen. With nationality words Im Spanish. She is Turkish. With jobs Jim is a teacher. Are you a student? With an adjective Youre right. Im happy. Its easy.

More examples
With This/That This is my bike. Is that your seat? With question words: where, when, what, who, why, how old Where is Jim? When is the next lesson? What time is it? Who are you? Why are they here? How old are you?

Present Simple: Affirmative Frequency Adverbs

general facts, repeated actions and habits and things that are always true:
General facts I like milk. They speak Turkish. Maria plays basketball. We live in Australia. Repeated actions and habits Harry often arrives late. I usually get up at 7.30. Things that are always true. The sun rises in the East. The earth goes round the sun.

We use the present simple to describe

Statements
I walk to school every day. My brother usually walks with me. I walk You walk We walk They walk He walks She walks It walks

Spelling
Go goes Miss misses Watch watches Wash washes Relax relaxes

Always, usually, often, sometimes, never

Always Usually Often Sometimes Never 100% 80% 60% 40% 0% Tim always wears jeans. I usually go to bed at 9.30 Sue often goes to the cinema. Sam sometimes walks to school. It never rains here in August.

The frequency adverb goes between subject and verb. Monday always comes after Sunday.
Subject adverb of frequency verb

Present Simple: negative and questions

Negative sentences
I do not walk. I dont walk. He does not walk. You do not walk. He doesnt walk. You dont walk.
She does not walk. We do not walk. She doesnt walk. We dont walk. It does not walk. It doesnt walk.
Examples: I dont drink coffee. Tom doesnt play tennis.

They do not walk. They dont walk.

They dont speak Italian. We dont live in France.

Questions
Do I walk? Does he walk? Do you walk?

Does she walk?

Does it walk?

Do we walk?
Do they walk?

Examples: Do you like ice-cream? Does Ana play basketball? Does Harry often arrive later?

Do they speak Italian? Do you live in Australia? Do you usually get up at 7.30?

Careful!
I walk, you walk, we walk BUT He walks, she walks, it walks He walks. Does he walk?

Present Continuous: affirmative

Statements or Affirmative sentences

I am waiting. Im waiting. He is waiting. Hes waiting. She is waiting. Shes waiting. It is waiting. Its waiting.
Examples: Im studying English. Were swimming in the sea.

You are waiting. Youre waiting. We are waiting. Were waiting. They are waiting. Theyre waiting.

My brothers talking on the telephone now. Shes reading a book at the moment.

Spelling
Verbs ending in one consonant, add ing. wait waiting Verbs ending in e, drop e and add ing. Make making write writing Verbs ending with one consonant, one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant. Sit sitting cut cutting Verbs ending in ie, change ie to y. Lie lying tie tying die dying Verbs ending in a vowel and y, add ing. Stay staying play playing say saying

Present Continuous: negative and questions

Negative sentences
I am not waiting. Im not waiting. He is not waiting. He isnt waiting.
She is not waiting. She isnt waiting. It is not waiting. It isnt waiting.

You are not waiting. You arent waiting.

We are not waiting. We arent waiting. They are not waiting. They arent waiting.

Examples: I m not drinking milk. They arent playing football.

Questions
Am I waiting? Is he waiting? Is she waiting? Is it waiting? Are you waiting? Are we waiting? Are they waiting?

Examples: A: What are you doing? B: Im fixing my bike

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A: Are you reading? B: No, Im not reading.

Present Continuous and Present Simple

Present Continuous
To talk about things happening at the moment.
Example: Jim is watching TV at the moment.

Present Simple
To talk about habits and routines.
Things we do often, every day, every week. Things that always happen.
Examples: I arrive at school at 8.30. The lesson finishes at 9.30.

Careful!
Joe lives in New York. He lives there all the time.

We are living near the station now. We want to move to another house soon.

Careful!
Verbs usually used with the present simple:
Cost Like Know Understand Believe This bike costs $200. Anna likes rap music. Do you know the answer? I dont understand this. Do you believe me?

Careful!
Some verbs have one meaning in the simple form, but a different meaning in the continuous form. Do you have a bike? = Do you own a bike? (in general) Im having a great time! = Its a great party! (at the moment) I think this film is great! = I like this film a lot. (in general) Quiet! Im thinking. = Im doing a difficult exercise. (at the moment)