The Present simple tense:
- The affirmative present simple tense
- The negative present simple tense
- The interrogative present simple tense
- When to use the present simple tense
The affirmative present simple tense:
The present simple tense is conjugated according to the pronoun as follows:
First, (I, we, you, they) + (the infinitive form of the verb)
For example: I go to the cinema every day.
They sometimes play football.
Second, the third person singular pronoun:
(he, she, it) + (the infinitive form of the verb) + “s”
For example: he sometimes plays football.
However, this suffix (-s) is divided into 3 cases:
1. for verbs that end with the letter “y” preceded with a consonant letter such as (try, cry, reply, etc,) we replace the y with (-ies)
For example:
She usually cries.
He never tries.
2. for verbs that has any of the coming endings: (x, ss, ch, sh, o), we add the suffix (-es)
For example:
The man (he) fixes the phone every year.
The lady (she) fusses daily.
The lion (it) catches a prey every week.
The girl (she) washes the dishes every night.
The student (he) rarely goes to the club.
3. other than the verbs that exist in the first and the second case, we only add (-s)
For example:
It usually rains in the winter.
He rarely returns home late.
She always cleans her room.
The negative present simple tense:
As in the previous section, the negative is also divided into two cases according to the pronoun as follows:
First, (I, we, you, they) + don’t + (the infinitive form of the verb)
For example: I don’t go to the cinema every day.
They sometimes don’t play football.
Second, the third person singular pronoun:
(he, she, it) + doesn’t + (the infinitive form of the verb)
For example: he sometimes doesn’t play football.
Note: the suffix (-s) including all three cases (-s, -es, -ies) are deleted from the verb ending.
For example:
The man (he) doesn’t fix the phone every year.
The lady (she) doesn’t fuss daily.
The lion (it) doesn’t catch a prey every week.
The interrogative present simple tense:
How to make questions using the present simple tense:
Do/ does + the subject (noun/ pronoun) + ( the infinitive) + the rest of the sentence?
For example:
1. The man (he) doesn’t fix the phone every year.
The question: Does the man (he) fix the phone every year?
The answer: Yes, he does. Or: No, he doesn’t.
2. I go to the cinema every day.
The question: Do you go to the cinema every day?
The answer: Yes, I do. Or: No, I don’t.
Note: questions made with question words (how, when, where, why, etc,) are constructed as follows:
Question word + do/ does + the subject (noun/ pronoun) + ( the infinitive) + the rest of the sentence?
For example:
1. The question: When do you go to the cinema?
The answer: I go to the cinema every day.
2. The question: When does Sara go to the cinema?
The answer: Sara goes to the cinema every day.
When to use the present simple tense?
1. To express a habit/a repeated action, and in this pattern, there are words that indicate easily to the tense such as:
Always, sometimes, usually, often, ever, never, generally, occasionally, rarely, seldom,
every(hour, day, week, month, year).
Note: ever is used in questions and never is used for negative answer.
For example:
Do you ever fail in your exams?
I never fail in my exams.
2. to express facts.
For example: the earth moves round the sun.
