Language/English/Grammar/Present-Tense

Simple Present Tense in English

How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

There are three important exceptions:

1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.

2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.

3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

• Look at these examples with the main verb like:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I, you, we, they			like	coffee.
	He, she, it			likes	coffee.
-	I, you, we, they	do	not	like	coffee.
	He, she, it	does	not	like	coffee.
?	Do	I, you, we, they		like	coffee?
	Does	he, she, it		like	coffee?

• Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

	subject	main verb
+	I	am		French.
	You, we, they	are
	He, she, it	is
-	I	am	not	old
	You, we, they	are	not	old
	He, she, it	is	not	old
?	Am	I		late?
	Are	you, we, they		late?
	Is	he, she, it		late?

How do we use the Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present tense when:

• the action is general
• the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
• the action is not only happening now
• the statement is always true, i.e. a fact
• the emphasis is on the completion of the action rather than the continuous nature of it.

John drives a taxi.
past	present	future
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every day, John + taxi = John's work. Past, present and future. The fact: "John = taxi driver". The activity of driving, e.g. starting the taxi, picking up passengers and going from place to place in the city, is secondary. For this case, the present simple continuous: "John is driving a taxi".

Look at these examples:

• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not general.

We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the simple present tense—some of them are general, some of them are now:

Am I right? Tara is not at home. You are happy.
past	present	future
	-----------
The present situation as a fact.

I am not fat. Why are you so beautiful? Ram is tall.
past	present	future
--------------------------------------------------------------
The general situation. Past, present and future. A fact or habitual.

When you are telling your teacher that you are reading the book they assigned, you can say:

"I am reading this book".

This can mean that:

1. You are reading that book as you are talking.
2. You have been reading that book and you are not finished.

Only say "this", as in "this book", if you are showing the book or you are close to the book.

Say "that", as in "that book", if you are far away from the book or just talking about the book.