Present Simple

Tense
Bela Bujević, 5.A
Use
We use the Present Simple to talk
about regular activities, repeated
actions, habits, daily routines,
things that are true in general and
do not change and also scheduled
events in the near future.
Regular activities
When we want to talk about habits, things that we do
repeatedly, daily events or something that often
happens.

Example:

- I always talk too much.

- She plays the violin.

- My birtday is in August and I celebrate it every year.

General truth
Here we use it to talk about the things that are always true. Also when we want
to make generalizations about someone or something.

Example:
- The Sun shines bright.

- Fish live in water.

- Paris is the capital of France.

Scheduled events
in the near future
Often used to talk about events that are planed and
determined in advance.

Example:

- The train arrives at midnight.

- The joga class starts at nine o’clock.

- When does the game begin?

Adverbs of frequency
We can use adverbs of frequency with the Present Simple: always, rarely,
often, never, usually, sometimes, every day... We put them before the main
verb or after „to be”. But if we use expressions that start with „every”, we
then place them at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.

Example:
- I often visit my grandma.
- He usually drinks tea in the morning.
- She is never too tired to dance.
- You always take the shortcut to school.
- Every day they go to work.
Affirmative form
For the persons I, you, we, they:

Subject + Verb + Complement

Example:
I eat breakfast every morning.
You have dancing lessons three times a week.

For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it):

Subject + Verb (add -e, -es to the verb) + Complement

Example:
She drinks warm milk every evening
He usually goes there with his father.
Negative form
For the persons I, you, we, they:

Subject + Do + Not + Verb + Complement

Example:
We do not like the rain.
You don’t make him happy.

For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it):

Subject + Does + Not + Verb + Complement

Example:
It does not come out at night.
She doesn’t want to play with you.
Interrogative form
For the persons I, you, we, they:

Do + Subject + Verb + Complement + ?

Example:
Do you want to see a movie tonight?
Do they know your name?

If the question starts with; what, where, when, who, why or how:

Example:
What do you think about that?
When do they think it starts?
Interrogative form
For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it):

Does + Subject + Verb + Complement + ?

Example:
Does he know the color of your eyes?
Does she swim well?

If the question starts with; what, where, when, who, why or how:

Example:
Why does she smile all the time?
What does he want from me?
There are some spelling changes in 3rd person
singular:

To most verbs we add - s

Example:
live – lives, give – gives

To verbs ending in ch, o, ss, sh and x

we add - es
Spelling changes
Example:
watch – watches, go – goes,
miss – misses, fix – fixes, brush – brushes

To verbs ending in y with a consonant

in front, we change y to - i + es

Example:
cry – cries, carry - carries
 If we can’t choose what to do, because it is the
only option, we use:
have to
has to

Example:

We have a test tomorrow. I have to study hard.

Expressing duty
or obligation If we can choose what to do, we use:
don’t have to
doesn’t have to

Example:

The movie plays all week. We dont have to see

it today.