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1 What is the Present Simple Tense 3
2 The structure of the Present Simple Tense 4
3 (activity) Identifying the Present Simple Tense (basic) 5
4 Advanced sentence structures in the Present Simple Tense 6
5 (activity) Identifying the Present Simple Tense (advanced) 7
6 (activity) The structure of the Present Simple Tense II 8
7 Knowing when to use the Present Simple Tense 9
8 (activity) Knowing when to use the Present Simple Tense 10
9 The -S ending 11
10 (activity) The -S ending 12
11 More notes on the -S ending 13
12 (activity) The -S ending, part 2 14
13 Notes on the verbs BE and HAVE 15
14 (activity) BE and HAVE in the Present Simple Tense 16
15 Notes on stative verbs 17
16 Special uses of the Present Simple Tense 18
17 Negative form of the Present Simple Tense 19
18 (activity) Negative forms 20
19 Negative form of the BE verb 21
20 (activity) Negative form of the BE verb 22
21 Question form of the Present Simple Tense 23
22 (activity) Question forms 24
23 Question form of the BE verb 25
24 (activity) Question form of the BE verb 26
25 (activity) Final quiz 27
26 Answer key 28
2
What is the Present Simple Tense?
The present simple tense is sometimes called the simple present tense or just the present tense.
I live in Alaska
She works in a bank.
I have three brothers
They eat at that restaurant every week.
2 The Present Tense does not describe something happening right now. We use the present
continuous tense for that:
The first sentence describes a particular time, perhaps last weekend. The second sentence
indicates that Harry always (or usually) borrows my car when he drives home for the weekend.
This is something that happens repeatedly.
The first sentence describes a particular time that Harry made a pie. The second sentence
indicates that Harry often or generally makes nice pies. We dont need to add the words often or
generally because this is understood through the use of the present simple tense.
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The Structure of the Present Simple Tense
The structure of the present simple tense is simply the subject plus the basic form of the verb:
I swim.
They run.
We walk.
He swims.
She runs.
It walks.
Harry sings.
I am swimming.
They are running.
He is walking.
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Activity 1
Tick the sentences that are in the Present Simple Tense.
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Advanced Sentence Structures in the Present
Simple Tense
We have seen basic examples of the present simple tense, such as:
I work.
Jack swims.
We can see that the subject and verb do not always come at the beginning of the sentence. In
the examples above, we use a sentence starter, a comma, and then the Present Simple Tense: I
drink, we speak, I go.
Sometimes, the subject is much longer than one word, making it a little more difficult to see the
sentence structure. For example, all three of the following sentences are in present simple tense.
A. I am playing tennis.
B. I like tennis.
C. I like playing tennis.
Sentence A is not in the present simple tense. Sentence B is in the present simple tense and
Sentence C is also in the present simple tense. The tense is shown by the words I like. The
addition of playing does not affect the tense. Playing in this case is a gerund*.
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Activity 2
Tick the sentences that are in the Present Simple Tense.
2 ____ Apart from the security guard, nobody noticed the intruder.
3 ____ According to the new rules, well need to take a shorter lunch break.
8 ____ After their tennis lessons, the kids go for ice cream.
9 ____ The oldest part of the historic town looks a little shabby.
11 ____ Stephanie really loved eating wild berries when she lived on the farm.
13 ____ Hamid and his brother Ibrahim are preparing to plant some new crops.
14 ____ Before going on a long trip, Jacob always prepares a flask of coffee.
16 ____ Before closing for the day, the bakery sells the remaining goods at a
discount.
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Activity 3
In each of the following sentence pairs, one sentence has the correct grammatical structure and
one does not. Circle the correct sentence in each pair.
6. The horse likes to eat apples. The horse is like to eat apples.
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Knowing When to Use the Present Simple Tense
We know that we use the present simple tense when something is often or generally true. We
might use it with words or phrases such as: often, always, generally, sometimes, all the time,
never, occasionally, every day, every week or regularly:
We assume this to mean that she always or usually takes the bus to work.
We do not use the present simple tense if the meaning is now (with some exceptions, which we
will discuss on page 17). We use the present continuous tense for this:
We do not use the present simple tense for the past or the future (again, with some exceptions,
which we will discuss on page 18).
If you use WHEN to link two parts of a sentence, make sure that the two parts match:
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Activity 4
In each of the following sentence pairs, one sentence demonstrates the correct use of the
Present Simple Tense and one does not. Circle the correct sentence in each pair.
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The -S Ending
The structure of the present simple tense is straightforward: we use the base form of the word.
However, we need to add s (or es) if the subject is HE, SHE or IT:
He speaks Spanish.
She goes to the gym every morning.
It works.
We also need to add s if the subject can be referred to by HE, SHE or IT, such as if the subject
is Bob, because Bob is a HE.
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Activity 5
In some of the following sentences, the verb is missing the s ending. However, some of the
sentences are already correct. Rewrite the sentence correctly if necessary.
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More Notes on the -S Ending
We use the s/-es ending in the present tense with the following subjects:
nobody/no one
everybody/everyone
somebody/someone
anybody/anyone
Examples:
We do not use the s/-es ending with George and Jack because the subject is equivalent to
they.
Sing matches the subject the birds, not the word garden. So, we do not add the s ending.
(The birdssing.) If its one bird:
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Activity 6
In some of the following sentences, the verb is missing the s ending. However, some of the
sentences are already correct. Rewrite the sentence correctly if necessary.
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Notes on the verbs BE and HAVE
There are two verbs that have quite different forms in the present simple tense. The first is the
BE verb:
I am...
You are...
He is...
She is...
It is...
We are...
They are...
Note that am/is/are are all derived from the verb BE, although they may not look like it, going by
their spelling. 'AM' does not look at all like 'BE', but they are the same verb.
Wrong: I happy.
Correct: I am happy.
Every sentence in English must contain a verb. There is no verb in the first example, so it is
clearly wrong (happy is an adjective, not a verb).
Note that we use the BE verb in the present continuous tense as well, but we use it as an
auxiliary verb it gives structure to the sentence rather than meaning.
Another verb that has a slightly different structure is HAVE, which changes to HAS when
matched with HE/SHE/IT:
I have
You have
He has
She has
It has
We have
They have
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Activity 7
Complete the sentences using a form of the verb to BE (am/is/are) or a form of the verb to HAVE
(have/has).
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Notes on Stative Verbs
Earlier, we made the distinction between the present simple tense and the present continuous
tense:
However, there are some special verbs which do not follow the rules above. These verbs are
called stative verbs (because they describe a state rather than an action). These verbs are
expressed in the present simple tense even if the meaning is right now.
Examples:
Where is my pen?
Wrong: I am having it.
Right: I have it.
Wrong: I am understanding.
Right: I understand.
This is a tricky topic because, like most words in English, the words in the list above can have
more than one meaning. Sometimes, we use the word as a stative verb for a particular meaning
but not another meaning.
For example, we do not say, I am having your pen, but we DO say, I am having lunch. This is
because the word having means eating in our second example.
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Special Uses of the Present Simple Tense
Do we ever use the present simple tense to describe a future event?
Yes, in a way. We use the present simple tense to describe an upcoming regularly scheduled
event, such as a flight or a show. Here are some examples:
Yes, we do. Usually when we tell a story, we use the past tense, but sometimes, in order to help
the listener imagine the event happening, we use the present tense:
Tom: I heard you had quite an adventure while camping last weekend.
Mike: Yes, I did!
Tom: Well, tell me what happened
Mike: Okay, so Im in my tent in the woods when suddenly a huge bear pokes his head
inside
Most novels and works of fiction are written in the past tense, but some are written in the present
tense. Again, some writers feel this helps the reader to imagine and enjoy the story better.
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Negative Form of the Present Simple Tense
We form negative sentences in the present simple tense by the use of the words DO NOT and
DOES NOT according to the following pattern:
I do not
You do not
He does not
She does not
It does not
We do not
They do not
I dont
You dont
He doesnt
She doesnt
It doesnt
We dont
They dont
I dont work
You dont work
He doesnt work
She doesnt work
It doesnt work
We dont work
They dont work
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Activity 8
In each of the following sentence pairs, one sentence has the correct grammatical structure and
one does not. Circle the correct sentence in each pair.
5. Sasha dont listen to hip hop. Sasha doesnt listen to hip hop.
10. You doesnt need that form. You dont need that form.
11. Frank does not feel well. Frank do not feel well.
12. Yolanda not speak Russian. Yolanda does not speak Russian.
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Negative Form of the BE Verb
The negative form of the BE verb is quite different. We do not use DONT or DOESNT, but we
use AM NOT, ARE NOT, IS NOT and the contractions ARENT and ISNT.
I am not
You are not / arent
He is not / isnt
She is not / isnt
It is not / isnt
We are not / arent
They are not / arent
The contractions (aren't, isn't etc) are more common in spoken English and the long forms are
more common in written English.
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Activity 9
Choose the correct word to complete the sentence.
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Question Form of the Present Simple Tense
We form question sentences in the present simple tense by the use of the words DO and
DOES according to the following pattern:
Do I
Do you
Does he
Does she
Does it
Do we
Do they
Do I work?
Do you work?
Does he work?
Does she work?
Does it work?
Do we work?
Do they work?
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Activity 10
In each of the following sentence pairs, one sentence has the correct grammatical structure and
one does not. Circle the correct sentence in each pair.
9. Does you have much cash on you? Do you have much cash on you?
12. Does your cat like eating fish? Does your cat liking to eat fish?
17. Does your boss earn a lot of money? Do your boss earn a lot of money?
18. Do your wife have a good job? Does your wife have a good job?
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Question Form of the BE Verb
The question form of the BE verb is quite different. We do not use DO or DOES, but we use AM,
ARE or IS to begin the question. The pattern of usage is as follows:
Am I?
Are you?
Is he?
Is she?
Is it?
Are we?
Are they?
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Activity 11
Choose the correct word to complete the sentence.
6. ________ I qualify? A) Am B) Do
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Activity 12
This is a review of all the topics that we have covered.
A) Are B) Do C) Does
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ANSWER KEY
Activity 1
1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15
Activity 2
1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16
Activity 3
Activity 4
1b 2b 3a 4b 5b 6a
7a 8b 9a 10a 11b 12a
Activity 5
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Activity 6
Activity 7
Activity 8
Activity 9
1. B) arent 9. B) dont
2. A) am not 10. A) arent
3. B) dont 11. B) dont
4. A) doesnt 12. A) arent
5. A) doesnt 13. B) dont
6. A) isnt 14. A) isnt
7. B) doesnt 15. A) isnt
8. A) am not 16. B) dont
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Activity 10
Activity 11
1. A) Are 9. B) Does
2. B) Do 10. A) Are
3. A) Am 11. A) Does
4. B) Is 12. A) Do
5. B) Is 13. B) Do
6. B) Do 14. A) Are
7. A) Do 15. B) Is
8. A) Am 16. A) Does
Activity 12
1b 2c 3a 4a 5b
6c 7c 8b 9b 10b
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More Practice
For an online version of this course, which includes a larger exercise bank, go to:
www.roadtogrammar.com/presentsimple
This content is also available as an Android App in the Google Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flashbynight.PresSimple&hl=en
And visit www.roadtogrammar.com for a rich library of resources for ESL teachers and learners.
for non-commercial uses on the condition that the title page is not altered and is included in the
content.
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