Present Simple Review

The Present Simple tense is used in a number of situations:

  • permanent actions
  • general actions
  • actions that happen regularly
  • facts
  • statements that are always true
  • static verbs

Examples:

  • Apples are red, yellow, or green.
  • We take a German class twice a week.
  • It is a beautiful day today
  • The Rangers always lose.
  • We do not work at night.

Form

Subject + auxiliary verb (do) + main verb

Forming PS is easy if you follow these 5 rules:

1. For questions, exchange the positions of subject and auxiliary verb (do)

  • Do I live here?
  • I live here?
  • Are you from Canada?
  • You are from Canada?

2. For negative sentences, we add "not" to the auxiliary.

  • I don't (do + not) like pizza
  • She doesn't like riding horses

3. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary (unless for emphasis).

  • I live here.
  • I do live here.

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

  • Does she live here?
  • Do she live here?
  • She lives here.
  • She live here.

 

5. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary.

  • He is tall.
  • Is he tall?
  • Does he be tall?