Curso de sensibilización a la PAEP

(Prueba de Admisión a Estudios de Posgrado)

Present Tense

By Gabriela Ulloa

Meaning
• The present tense is used to express:

• Facts and general truths

• Examples:
– Facts Jonathan lives across the street
from the office.
• General truths: The Atlantic Ocean has its hurricane
peak in the months between April
and October.
• Habits and routines:
– People brush their teeth at least three times a day.
– Every day, as soon as I finish breakfast, I clean up
the kitchen.

Form
• A sentence in present tense uses the base
form of the verb with the first and second
persons in singular, and first, second and
third persons in plural. However, add an “s”
or “es” to the base form of the verb in the
third person singular.
Singular Plural
First I work We work
Second You work You work
Third He works They work
She works
It works

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• Example:

Rob and I have lunch at home, but Marie

has lunch in the restaurant across the
street from the office.

Form
• To make a negative sentence we normally
use Don’t or Doesn’t.
• When the subject is you, we or they we add
DON’T
– Affirmative: He speaks Spanish
– Negative: He doesn’t speak Spanish
• When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOESN’T
between the subject and the verb. (The letter S at the
end of the verb in the affirmative sentence disappears in the
negative sentence).

– John doesn’t speak Russian

– She doesn’t like meat

Form

• Doesn’t is only used with the third person

singular. In this case, the verb doesn’t
have the “s” at the end because the
auxiliary has the “es.”
• He doesn’t walk to work.
• She doesn’t walk to work.
• It doesn’t walk in the park.

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Form
To make yes/no questions, the auxiliary is
placed at the beginning of the question.
Example:
I work 48 hours a week.
Do you work 48 hours a week, too?
Yes, I do.
or
No, I don’t. I work 40 hours a week.

Does Robert work with you?

Yes, he does.
or
No, he doesn’t. He works in a bank.

Information or “wh” questions

• For information questions in which you use

the questions words (QW) what, who, where,
when, how, how much, how many, and why,
the information question word is placed at
the beginning of the question. The question
ends in only one question mark.
QW + aux + subj + verb + rest of the sent.
Why do you eat junk food?
Where does he usually have lunch?

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Information questions

• Examples:
What do you usually do on Sundays?
I usually rest at home.
Where does he go on Friday evenings?
He sometimes goes to the disco; and he
sometimes hangs out with friends.
Why does she get angry so easily?
Because she suffers from a chemical
imbalance.

How does this machine work?

It works with 4 triple-A batteries.

How many books do you read in a year?

We usually read from 20 to 30 books.

Who do they visit so mysteriously over the

weekends?
They visit their grandma in a nursing home.

Adverbs of Frequency
• A frequency adverb indicates how often
an action is done.
• Examples:
• I always go to work by bus.
• I am usually early in the office.
• I often read my e-mails before the rest of
the people arrive in the office.
• I sometimes have a cup of coffee before I
start work.

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• I seldom leave the office at 5:30 p.m.

• I never take a taxi to go back home.

• A frequency adverb (FA) is usually placed

between the subject and the verb, except
with the verb to be.
• Examples:
• Leslie usually answers the phone before
Subj FA verb

the third ring.

• Henry is always hungry by noon.

Subj verb FA
to be

Frequency adverbs

• Frequency adverbs have commonly been

associated with percentages. The
percentage indicates how often you do an
action:
• Always 100%Sometimes 50-60%
• Usually 90% Seldom 10%
• Often 75% Never 0%

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• Use the frequency adverb ever in

questions.

• Do you ever go to the movies?

• Does he ever drop by on Sundays?

Typical time expressions used

with present tense.
• The chef cleans the kitchen every day.
• He sanitizes the kitchen three times a
week.
• He receives the meat for the main courses
every other day.
• He rests once a week.
• He flies to France for training courses
once a year.

Practice

• The following five slides are exercises for

you to practice.
• At the end, there is a link that will take you
to a 10-item quiz.

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Choose the letter of the word(s) that best completes

the statement or question .
• How often ___ press conferences?
• A) do the President give
• B) does the President give
• C) does the President gives
• D) do the President gives
• E) the President gives

• How often ___ press conferences?

• A) do the President give
• B) does the President give
• C) does the President gives
• D) do the President gives
• E) the President gives

• (B) is the right answer because you are talking of third person
singular (the President/ he) and the verb is in its base form
because of the auxiliary does.

• ___ a Christmas brunch on December

23rd.
• A) They usually have
• B) They doesn’t usually has
• C) They have usually
• D) They has usually
• E) They doesn’t usually have

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• ___ a Christmas brunch on December 23rd.

• A) They usually have
• B) They doesn’t usually has
• C) They have usually
• D) They has usually
• E) They doesn’t usually have

(A) is the right answer because you have the frequency adverb
between the subject (They) and the verb (have)
(B) and (E) are wrong because They never takes doesn’t.
(C) is wrong because of the order verb + adverb. It should be
adverb + verb.
(D) Is wrong because has is not the form of verb for they.

• The teacher ___ all the used exams at the

end of the school year.

• A) tear
• B) doesn’t tears
• C) tears
• D) don’t tear
• E) don’t tears

• The teacher ___ all the used exams at the

end of the school year.

• A) tear
• B) doesn’t tears
• C) tears
• D) don’t tear
• E) don’t tears

(A) needs an “s” at the end; (B) is incorrect because doesn’t

cannot be combined with a verb ending in “s”; (D) and (E) are
wrong because The teacher (he or she) is never accompanied
by don’t.

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The farmer ____ the animals at night, only

during the mornings.

• A) doesn’t feeds
• B) doesn’t never feed
• C) sometimes feed
• D) don’t feed
• E) never feeds

The farmer ____ the animals at night, only

during the mornings.

• A) doesn’t feeds
• B) doesn’t never feed
• C) sometimes feed
• D) don’t feed
• E) never feeds

• (A) is wrong because doesn’t is never accompanied by a verb

with an “s” at the end. (B) is wrong because you have a double
negative: doesn’t and never; (C) is wrong because the verb
needs an “s”; (D) is wrong because don’t is not used with third
person singular.

• The clock man winds the clocks of the

palace ____.
• A) sometimes
• B) always
• C) never
• D) often
• E) every day

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 Curso de sensibilización a la PAEP
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• The clock man winds the clocks of the

palace ____.
• A) seldom
• B) always
• C) never
• D) often
• E) every day

• (A), (B), (C) and (D) are wrong because frequency adverbs
never go at the end of the sentence.

Quiz
(You have 5 minutes to answer the following quiz).

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