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Kenya Notes

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

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The Meaning of Simple Present Tense

The simple present is a verb tense used to talk about conditions or actions happening right now or habitual actions and occurrences.

The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English.

It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition to present time. The simple present is the most commonly used verb form in English, accounting for more than half of verbs in spoken English.

Simple present tense tell us the action every day has a habit,rotation or a daily habit

It is called "simple" because its basic form consists of a single word (like write or writes), in contrast with other present tense forms such as the present progressive (is writing) and present perfect (has written).

The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements.

The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes)

How do we make the Present Simple tense?

There are two basic structures for the Present Simple:
1. Positive sentences
subject + main verb
Present Simple
2. Negative and question sentences
subject + auxiliary do + main verb
conjugated in Present Simple
do, does base
**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?

	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?

Positive Sentences

Structure/Formula:

The structure/formula of a Simple Present Positive Sentence is – subject + main verb + object.

Rules for making Positive Sentences in Simple Present Tense:

If the subject is a singular noun i.e. it, he or she, then the verb is suffixed by –s or –es. In case of plural nouns there is no change in the actual form of the verb. For example consider the below given sentences-

She listens to the lectures carefully.
I listen to the lectures carefully.
He goes to the market every day.
They go to the cinema every weekend.
The child loves noodles.
The children love noodles.

Negative Sentences

Structure/Formula:

The structure of a Simple Present Negative Sentence is – subject + do not/does not + main verb.

Rules for making Negative Sentences in Simple Present Tense:

If the subject is a singular noun or pronoun like – it, he, she then ‘does not’ is used and if the subjects are - they, we, I, you or a plural noun then ‘do not’ is used for the negative sentences.

Read the below given sentences for example-

It does not change color.
He does not drink milk.
She does not like to swim.
Cat does not like water.
They do not believe in religion.
We do not go to the canteen.
I do not like milk.
You do not go to the market.
Elephants do not like loud noise.

Negative-Interrogative Sentences

Negative sentences can also be converted into Negative Interrogative sentences by adding ‘question words’ before the subject.

Structure/Formula:

(question words + subject + do not/does not + main verb). For Example consider the following sentences-

Why it does not change color?
Why he does not drink milk?
Why she does not like to swim?
Why the cat does not like water?
Why they do not believe in religion?
Why we do not go to the canteen?
Why I do not like milk?
Why you do not go to the market?
Why Elephants do not like loud noise?

Interrogative Sentences

Structure/Formula:

The basic structure of Simple Present Interrogative Sentences is- Do/Does + subject + verb + object OR question words + Do/Does + subject + verb + object.

Rules for making Interrogative Sentences in Simple Present Tense:

If the subject is –it, he , she, or a singular noun then ‘does’ is used and if the subject is we, they, I, you or a plural noun then ‘do’ is used. Interrogative sentences start with Do/Does or question words. For example consider the below given sentences-

Does it belong to him?
Does she like the speech?
Why does cat like rain?
Do we have some chocolates?
Why do they like music?
Do I owe you any money?
Do you like to have dinner?
Do cats love water?

Interrogative-Negative Sentences

Interrogative sentences can be converted into a combination of Interrogative and Negative sentences by adding ‘not’ between the subject and the verb. For Example-

Does it not belong to him?
Does she not like the speech?
Does the cat not like rain?
Do we not have some chocolates?
Do they not like music?
Do I not owe you any money?
Do you not like to have dinner?
Do cats not love water?

More Examples

For habits
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly.
For repeated actions or events
We catch the bus every morning.
It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
They drive to Monaco every summer.
For general truths
Water freezes at zero degrees.
The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Her mother is Peruvian.
For instructions or directions
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford.
For fixed arrangements
His mother arrives tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the 26th March
With future constructions
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.

VIDEOS

Watch the following Videos:

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

VIDEO 3

VIDEO 4

QUIZ - Present Simple

You can do this grammar quiz. It tests what you learned on the Present Simple page.