Present Simple Tense

1. Concept of Simple Present Tense

The Simple Present Tense is used to describe actions that are regular (regular action), habitual (habitual action), or repeatedly occur in a consistent pattern, or to express universal truths and obvious facts.

Examples:

• I walk to school every day.
• He often plays soccer.

2. Structure of Simple Present Tense

Type	Verb “to be”	Regular Verbs
Affirmative	S + am/is/are + … I + am He, She, It + is You, We, They + are E.g.1: I am a student. E.g.2: They are teachers. E.g.3: She is my mother.	S + V(s/es) + … I, You, We, They + V (base form) He, She, It + V (s/es) E.g.1: He always swims in the evening. E.g.2: Mei usually goes to bed at 11 p.m. E.g.3: Every Sunday we go to see my grandparents.
Negative	S + am/is/are + not + … is not = isn’t are not = aren’t E.g.: She is not my friend.	S + do/does + not + V (base form) do not = don’t does not = doesn’t E.g.: He doesn’t work in a shop.
Question	Yes-No Questions Am/Are/Is (not) + S + …? Yes, S + am/are/is. No, S + am not/aren’t/isn’t. E.g.: Are you a student? Yes, I am. / No, I am not. Wh- Questions Wh- + am/are/is (not) + S + …? E.g.: a) What is this? b) Where are you?	Yes-No Questions Do/Does (not) + S + V (base form)…? Yes, S + do/does. No, S + don’t/doesn’t. E.g.: Do you play tennis? Yes, I do. / No, I don’t. Wh- Questions Wh- + do/does (not) + S + V (base form)…? E.g.: a) Where do you come from? b) What do you do?
Additional Notes	When conjugating verbs in this tense, for the first person (I), second person (you), and third person plural (they), the verb remains in its base form without “to,” as shown in the examples above. For the third person singular (he, she, it), the verb must be conjugated by adding “s/es” depending on the case. For example: He walks. / She watches TV ... Rules for adding s/es to verbs: – Add s to most verbs: want - wants; work - works;… – Add es to verbs ending in ch, sh, s, ss, x, z, o: miss - misses; wash - washes; fix - fixes; teach - teaches; go - goes ... – Remove y and add ies to verbs ending in a consonant + y: study - studies; fly - flies; try - tries ... EXTENDED: Pronunciation of the final “-s” consonant (applies to all words, regardless of word type) * Note: The pronunciation of the final consonant is based on the international transcription, not the spelling. – /s/: When the word ends in /k/, /p/, /t/, /f/, /θ/ Examples: likes /laɪks/; cakes /keɪks/; cats /kæts/; types /taɪps/; shops /ʃɒps/; laughs /lɑːfs/; cuffs /kʌfs/; coughs /kɒfs/; paths /pɑːθs/; months /mʌnθs/ – /iz/: When the word ends in /s/, /ʃ/, /z/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʒ/ Examples: misses /mɪsɪz/; places /pleɪsɪz/; buzzes /bʌzɪz/; rises /raɪzɪz/; sizes /saɪzɪz/; matches /mætʃɪz/; watches /wɒtʃɪz/; washes /wɒʃɪz/; dishes /dɪʃɪz/; manage /ˈmænɪdʒɪz/; changes /tʃeɪndʒɪz/; garages /ˈɡærɑːʒɪz/; rouge /ruːʒɪz/ – /z/: When the word ends in other consonants or vowels: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /g/, /b/, /d/, /r/, /v/, /ð/, /eɪ/, /aɪ/ … Examples: cabs /kæbz/; beds /bedz/; needs /niːdz/; bags /bæɡz/; loves /lʌvs/; gives /ɡɪvs/; bathes /beɪðz/; clothes /kləʊðz/; apples /ˈæpəlz/; swims /swɪmz/; comes /kʌmz/; eyes /aɪz/; plays /pleɪz/

3. Uses of Simple Present Tense

➣ To describe habits or actions that occur regularly and repeatedly.

Examples:

• I brush my teeth every day.
• I usually get up at 6 o’clock.

➨ The act of waking up at 6 a.m. is a regularly repeated action => use simple present tense. Since the subject is “I,” the verb “get up” remains in its base form.

➣ To express universal truths or obvious facts.

These are phenomena or facts in life that are indisputable.

Examples:

• The sun sets in the west.
• The earth moves around the Sun.

➨ The fact that the earth revolves around the sun is an obvious truth => use simple present tense.

➣ To describe future events.

This is often used to talk about schedules, timetables, programs, or plans.

Examples:

• The plane takes off at 7 a.m. this morning.
• The train leaves at 8 a.m. tomorrow.

➨ Although the plane has not yet arrived or the train has not yet departed, since these are fixed schedules, the simple present tense is used.

➣ Used in first conditional sentences.

Example:

• If my headache disappears, we can play tennis.

➣ Used in certain other English structures.

Examples:

• We will wait until he comes.
• They will go to the beach only when it is sunny.

4. Signs to Recognize Simple Present Tense

Signs to recognize the simple present tense: when the sentence contains adverbs of frequency:

➢ Always, usually, often, frequently, sometimes, seldom, rarely, hardly, never, generally, regularly ...

Examples:

• We sometimes go to the beach.
• I always drink lots of water.

➢ Every day, every week, every month, every year, every morning … Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly

Examples:

• They watch TV every evening.
• I play football weekly.

➢ Once/twice/three times/four times … a day/week/month/year, …

Examples:

• He goes to the cinema three times a month.
• I go swimming once a week.