Simple Present Tense

Simple Present Tense : Regular Verbs

Study the following examples:

• The bird flies easily
• I Like peacocks very much

The simple present tense is used to describe regular actions or things that are generally true.
For the third person singular (he/she/it + verb), add -s / -es to the base form of most verb

Present Continuous Tense

We often use the present continuous tense in English. It is very different from the simple present tense, both in structure and in use.

How do we make the Present Continuous Tense?

The structure of the present continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		be		base + ing

Look at these examples:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	am		speaking	to you.
+	You	are		reading	this.
-	She	is	not	staying	in London.
-	We	are	not	playing	football.
?	Is	he		watching	TV?
?	Are	they		waiting	for John?

How do we use the Present Continuous Tense?

We use the present continuous tense to talk about:

• action happening now
• action in the future

Present Continuous tense for action happening now

a) for action happening exactly now

I am eating my lunch.
past	present	future
	The action is happening now.

Look at these examples. Right now you are looking at this screen and at the same time...

...the pages are turning.	...the candle is burning.	...the numbers are spinning.

b) for action happening around now
The action may not be happening exactly now, but it is happening just before and just after now, and it is not permanent or habitual.

John is going out with Mary.
past	present	future
	The action is happening around now.

Look at these examples:

• Muriel is learning to drive.
• I am living with my sister until I find an apartment.

Present Continuous tense for the future

We can also use the present continuous tense to talk about the future - if we add a future word!! We must add (or understand from the context) a future word. "Future words" include, for example, tomorrow, next year, in June, at Christmas etc. We only use the present continuous tense to talk about the future when we have planned to do something before we speak. We have already made a decision and a plan before speaking.

I am taking my exam next month.
past	present	future
!!!
	A firm plan or programme exists now.	The action is in the future.

Look at these examples:

• We're eating in a restaurant tonight. We've already booked the table..
• They can play tennis with you tomorrow. They're not working.
• When are you starting your new job?

In these examples, we have a firm plan or programme before speaking. The decision and plan were made before speaking.

Simple Present

FORM

[VERB] + s/es in third person

Examples:

• You speak English.
• Do you speak English?
• You do not speak English.

Complete List of Simple Present Forms

USE 1 Repeated Actions

Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.

Examples:

• I play tennis.
• She does not play tennis.
• Does he play tennis?
• The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
• The train does not leave at 9 AM.
• When does the train usually leave?
• She always forgets her purse.
• He never forgets his wallet.
• Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.
• Does the Sun circle the Earth?

USE 2 Facts or Generalizations

The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.

Examples:

• Cats like milk.
• Birds do not like milk.
• Do pigs like milk?
• California is in America.
• California is not in the United Kingdom.
• Windows are made of glass.
• Windows are not made of wood.
• New York is a small city. It is not important that this fact is untrue.

USE 3 Scheduled Events in the Near Future

Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.

Examples:

• The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.
• The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.
• When do we board the plane?
• The party starts at 8 o'clock.
• When does class begin tomorrow?

USE 4 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.

Examples:

• I am here now.
• She is not here now.
• He needs help right now.
• He does not need help now.
• He has his passport in his hand.
• Do you have your passport with you?

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

Examples:

• You only speak English.
• Do you only speak English?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

• Once a week, Tom cleans the car. Active
• Once a week, the car is cleaned by Tom. Passive

 

 

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ENGLISH TENSES

Present Tense
I do do, I do

Present Continuous Tense
I am doing, I am doing tomorrow

Present Perfect Tense
I have done

Present Perfect Continuous Tense
I have been doing

Past Tense
I did do, I did

Past Continuous Tense
I was doing

Past Perfect Tense
I had done

Past Perfect Continuous Tense
I had been doing

Future Tense
I will do

Future Continuous Tense
I will be doing

Future Perfect Tense
I will have done

Future Perfect Continuous Tense
I will have been doing

Glossary of English Grammar Terms

Active Voice
In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice.

Adjective
A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.

Adverb
A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb.

Article
The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.

Auxiliary Verb
A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs.

Clause
A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived).

Conjunction
A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if).

Infinitive
The basic form of a verb as in to work or work.

Interjection
An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!).

Modal Verb
An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb".

Noun
A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car. An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness. A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar). An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music, money).

Object
In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb.

Participle
The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3).

Part Of Speech
One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection.

Passive Voice
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was killed). See also Active Voice.

Phrase
A group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red dress).

Predicate
Each sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is what is said about the subject.

Preposition
A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give information about things like time, place and direction.

Pronoun
A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun.

Sentence
A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).

Subject
Every sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said.

Tense
The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future.

Verb
A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state.

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KINDS OF PHRASE

There are five kinds of phrase :

1. A Verb Phrase has an ordinary verb. There can also be one or more auxiliaries in front of the ordinary verb. Examples : was, arrives, can see, don't know, have been thinking, etc.
2. A Noun Phrase has a noun. There can also be a determiner and/or an adjective in front of the noun. Examples : music, some money, a good game, etc.
3. An Adjective Phrase is often just an adjective. There can also be an adverb of degree in front of the adjective. Examples : great, very old, most ridiculous, etc.
4. An Adverb Phrase is often just an adverb. There can be an adverb of degree in front of the adverb. Examples : sometimes, very carefully, etc.
5. A Prepositional Phrase is a preposition + noun phrase. Examples : on the road, by Friday, for a long time

PART OF SPEECH

There are eight word classes in English, sometimes called 'Part of Speech'

1. VERB : be, bring, decide, look, must, take, write, etc.
2. NOUN : car, idea, London, sadness, dog, people, time, etc.
3. ADJECTIVE : big, different, high, natural, etc.
4. ADVERB : quickly, often, probably, soon, etc.
5. DETERMINER : a, every, my, the, this, etc.
6. PRONOUN : him, something, myself, you, etc.
7. CONJUNCTION : and, or, because, etc.
8. PREPOSITION : at, in, by, with, to, etc.