Simple Present Tense: Explanation with Examples

simple present tense

Present Simple Tense

There are several things to discuss while studying the tenses of the English language. Basic elements, such as the use of the tenses, how they are formed, how to ask questions using them, how to negate, keywords, and some exercises on them. So we will explain these elements in order.

Uses of Present Simple Tense

These are the most important uses of present simple tense:

General facts:

I like milk.
They speak Turkish.
Maria plays basketball.
We live in Egypt.

Repeated actions and habits:

Harry often arrives late.
I usually get up at 7 AM.
I walk to school every day.
My brother usually walks with me.

Things that are always true:

The sun rises in the east.
The earth goes round the sun.

Future timetables and schedules:

The train arrives at 3 PM tomorrow.
The movie starts at 7 PM next Sunday.

Making declarations:

Here, the verbs of feeling and expressing opinion are used as stative verbs:

I hope you'll come to my party.
I hereby declare this hospital open.

Headlines:

Ship sinks in midnight collision.

Instructions and itineraries:

First, you roll out the pastry.
On day three we visit Giza.

Summaries of events:

May 1945: the war in Europe comes to an end.
At the end of the play both families realize that their hatred caused the deaths of the lovers...

In informal speech, we can use what is called (Historic Present), which is the use of the present tense instead of the past in fun and lively stories:

So then the second man asks the first one why he has a banana in his ear and the first one says----

Simple Present Tense Structure

Structure

Examples

I/you/we/they/plural noun + infinitive

I like milk.

you like milk.

We like milk.

He/she/it/singular noun + infinitive+ (s/es/ies)

He likes milk.

She likes milk.

It likes milk.

The simple present tense is formed of the infinitive with the pronouns (I / you / we / they) or plural nouns:

EX: I / you / we / they + like.

Infinitive + s with the pronouns (he/she/it) or singular nouns:

EX: he / she / it + likes.

But if the verb ends in these letters (O/S/CH/SH/X) with a singular subject, we add es to the end of the verb:

he goes she misses she watches he relaxes

If the verb ends with letter Y proceeded by a consonant, we delete the Y and add ies.

she cries he tries

Irregular verbs such as be and have
Verb be in present simple tense is (am/is/are):

I am
he / she / it is
we / you / they are

Verb have is (have/has):

I / you / we / they have
he / she / it has

How to make questions in present simple

Yes/no questions: in the present simple tense we use the helping verb do to make yes/no questions. We use do with plural subjects and does with singular subjects. Look at the following formula.

Do + I/you/we/they/(plural subject) + inf + ...... ?

Do you like Egyptian food?

Does + he/she/it/(singular subject) + inf + ....... ?

Does she like Egyptian food?

We make yes-or-no questions in the present simple tense using the present simple form of the verb do followed by the subject followed by the infinitive of the main verb.

We use do with a plural subject:

Do you like Egyptian food?

We use does instead of do with a singular subject:

Does she like Egyptian food?

Note: The verb in the infinitive always comes after do/does:

Yes/No questions with the verb be are done by introducing am / is / are to the subject.

I'm hungry.
Are you hungry?
He is tall.
Is he tall?

Note that am is converted to are when asking a yes/no question in the previous examples and I is converted to you as well.

Wh/how questions: questions start with words like when / why / what / where etc.

The question in this way consists of (the appropriate questions word) + the auxiliary verb (do/does) + the subject:

What do you want?
What does she want?

How to make negative in the present simple tense

Negation is done by using (don't = (do not) with the pronouns I / you / we / they or whatever nouns they represent (plural noun).
Negation is made using (doesn't = (does not) with the pronouns he / she / it or any nouns that stand in for them (singular noun).

I don't like that.
She doesn't like that.

The verb be is negated by adding not to am / is / are:

Am not is not = isn't are not = aren't

Have is also negated by adding not to have/has:

have not = haven't has not = hasn't

Please note that it is also possible to negate using (Never) in the simple present tense, but the verb remains conjugated with (he / she / it):

The following sentence is an affirmative sentence and we will negate it using the two methods mentioned above in order to notice the difference:

She speaks English.

She doesn't speak English.

She never speaks English.

Present simple tense keywords

Adverbs of frequency are often used with the simple present tense:

Always 100% John always wears jeans.

usually 80% I usually go to bed at 10.

Often 60% Sarah often goes to the cinema.

Sometimes 40% Lana sometimes walks to school.

Never 0% It never rains here in August.

Adverbs of frequency come between the subject and the verb:

- Monday always comes after Sunday.

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