3 SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Simple present tense is a part of tenses that commonly use in our everyday talks. And you must be familiar
with these tense. But before you do some exercise read these note to refresh your memory about simple
present tense.

SIMPLE PRESENT

The simple present tense in English is used to describe an action that is regular, true or normal. We use the
present tense :
1. For repeated or regular actions in the present time period
 I take the train to the office
 The train to Berlin leaves every hour
 John sleeps eight hours every night during the week
2. For facts
 The President of The USA lives in The White House
 A dog has four legs
 We come from Switzerland
3. For habits
 I get up early in the morning
 Carol brushes her teeth twice a day
 They travel to their country house every weekend
4. For things that are always/generally true
 It rains a lot in winter
 The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace
 They speak English at work

VERB CONJUGATION & SPELLING

We form the present tense using the base form of the infinitive (without the TO). In general, in the third
person we add “S” in the third person.

Subject Verb The rest of sentence

I/ You / They /We speak / learn English at home
He /She /It speaks/learns English at home
The spelling for the verb in the thirds person differs depending the ending of that verbs :
 1. For the verbs that end in –O, OCH, -SH, -SS, -X or – Z we add –ES in the third person
 go – goes
 catch – catches
 wash – washes
 kiss – kisses
 fix – fixes
 buzz - buzzes
2. For the verbs that end in a consonant + Y we remove the Y and add –IES
 marry – marries
 study – studies
 carry – carries
 worry – worries
NOTE : For the verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we just add –S
 play – plays
 enjoy – enjoys
 say – says

NEGATIVE SENTENCES IN THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

To make a negative sentence in English we normally use don’t or doesn’t with all verbs except to be and
modal verbs (can, might, should, etc.)

 Affirmative : You speak French

 Negative : You don’t speak French
You will see that we add don’t between the subject and the verb. We use don’t when the subject is I, you,
they, or we

 Affirmative : She speaks German

 Negative : She doesn’t speak German
When the subject is he, she, or it we add doesn’t between the subject and the verb to make a negative
sentence. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third
person) disappears in the negative sentence. We will see the reason why below.

NEGATIVE CONTRACTION

Don’t = Do not
Doesn’t = Does not
I don’t like meat = I do not like meat
There is no difference in meaning though we normally use contraction in spoken English.
 WORD ORDER OF NEGATIVE SENTENCES

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense
using don’t or doesn’t

Subject Don’t/Doesn’t Verb* The rest of the sentence

I /you /they /we don’t have / buy /eat /like
cereal for breakfast
He / she / it Doesn’t / etc
*Verb : The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without to before the verb.
Instead of the infinitive to have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begin with to. For example
: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak, etc.
Examples of negative sentence with don’t and doesn’t

 You don’t speak Arabic

 John doesn’t speak Italian
 We don’t have time for a rest
 It doesn’t move
 They don’t want to go to the party
 She doesn’t like fish

QUESTIONS IN THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

To make a question in English we normally use do or does. It has no translation in bahasa though it is
essential to show we are making a question. It is normally put at the beginning of the question.

 Affirmative : You speak English

 Question: Do you speak English?
You will see that we add do at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use do
when the subject is I, you, they, or we

 Affirmative : He speaks French

 Question : Does he speak French
When the subject is he, she, or, it we add does at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a
question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third
person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.
We don’t use do or does in questions that have the verb to be or modal verb (can, must, might, should,
etc)
 WORD ORDER OF QUESTIONS WITH DO AND DOES

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using do or does.

Do/Does Subject Verb* The rest of the sentence

Do I / you / they / we have / need/want /
A new bike?
Does he / she / it etc
*Verb : The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without to before the verb.
Instead of the infinitive to have is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with to. For example
: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak, etc
Examples of questions with do and does:

 Do you need a dictionary?

 Does Marry need a dictionary?
 Do we have a meeting now?
 Does it rain a lot in winter?
 Do they want to go to the party?
 Does he like pizza?

SHORT ANSWERS WITH DO AND DOES

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample questions Short answer (Affirmative) Short answer (Negative)

Do you like chocolate? Yes, I do No, I don’t
Do I need a pencil? Yes, you do. No, you don’t
Do you both like chocolate? Yes, we do. No, we don’t
However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which, or how is used in the question, you
can not use the short answer above to respond to the question.
We use some adverbs to describe how frequently we do an activity. These are called adverbs of frequency
and include :

Frequency Adverb of Frequency Example Sentence

100% Always I always go to bed before 11 p.m
90% Usually I usually have cereal for breakfast
80% Normally/generally I normally go to the gym
70% Often / frequently I often surf the internet
50% Sometimes I sometimes forget my wife’s birthday
30% Occasionally I occasionally eat junk food
10% Seldom I seldom read the newspaper
5% Hardly ever/rarely I hardly ever drink alcohol
0% Never I never swim in the sea

THE POSITION OF THE ADVERB IN A SENTENCE

An adverb of frequency goes before a main verb (except with to be)

Subject + adverb + main verb

 I always remember to do my homework
 He normally gets good mark in exams
An adverb of frequency goes after the verb to be

Subject + to be + adverb
 They are never pleased to see me
 She isn’t usually bad tempered
When we use an auxiliary verb (have, will, must, could, would, can, etc.), the adverb is placed between the
auxiliary and the main verb. This is also true for to be.

Subject + auxiliary + adverb + main verb

 She can sometimes beat me in a race
 I would hardly ever be unkind to someone
 They might never see each other again
 They could occasionally be heard laughing
 EXERCISE

I. CHOOSE THE CORRECT VERB FROM THE LIST BELOW TO COMPLETE THE
FOLLOWING SENTENCES. USE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE SIMPLE
PRESENT TENSE

fix stand speak drink eat do

have wash make listen buy
take have brush wear

1. I ________________________ breakfast at 7.00 every morning.

2. He always _________________ a suit to work.
3. The teacher ________________________at the front of the classroom
4. He _______________________ his teeth three times a day
5. We usually _____________________ our groceries on the weekend
6. He ____________________ a meeting every morning.
7. She often _____________________chicken for dinner.
8. They _________________ the bus to school everyday
9. We often____________________ television in the evenings
10. He ________________________to the radio on his way to work
11. The teacher _____________________three laguages
12. A mechanic______________________cars
13. She __________________ the dishes after dinner
14. They __________________coffee every morning.

II. MAKE NEGATIVE SENTENCE USING THE CORRECT VERBS FROM THE
LIST BELOW

speak know go need want drink

love be move smoke wear sell
heve get up serve

1. I ________________________ any dinner because I am not hungry

2. Jerry and Beth are strangers. They _______________________ each other
 3. We _____________________ to school on the weekend
4. Mrs. Smith wants a divorce. She _______________ her husband anymore
5. Turtles _________________ quickly
6. Children ____________________ coffee
7. You _______________________ jeans to a wedding
8. Poor people __________________ a lot of money
9. It’s warm today. You ________________ to wear a coat
10. Jessica is very healthy. She_______________ cigarettes
11. The students are from China They ____________________ English
12. The shoe store ___________________hats
13. That restaurant ______________________breakfast
14. The children ________________________________early on the weekend

III. PRACTICE MAKING QUESTIONS AND GIVING ANSWER IN THE SIMPLE

PRESENT TENSE

Example . Do you wake up early every day?

Yes, I do (I wake up early every day)

1. ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________ (He takes the bus to school.)
2. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (They don’t live in a big city)
3. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (We like to play tennis.)
4. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (They don’t watch TV a lot)
5. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (He lives in an apartment)
6. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (The students work hard)
 7. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (She doesn’t eat in cafeteria)
8. ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________ (I speak French)

IV. USE THE CORRECT QUESTION WORDS (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY,
HOW MANY) AND THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE TO MAKE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS. THE UNDERLINED WORDS ARE THE ANSWER TO THE
QUESTIONS

Example. Where does he live?

He lives in an apartement on Main Street

1. _________________________________________________ They have three children

2. _________________________________________________ He speaks four language
3. _________________________________________________ She lives with her roommate
4. ___________________________________________________ The eat lunch in the cafeteria
everyday
5. _________________________________________________ I go to bed at 11.00 every night
6. ___________________________________________________ She doesn’t want to go to a movie
because she is very tired
7. ________________________________________________ They eat eggs for breakfast everyday
8. ________________________________________________ He wants steak for dinner

V. CHOOSE THE CORRECT VERB FROM THE LIST BELOW TO COMPLETE THE
FOLLOWING SENTENCE. USE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE SIMPLE
PRESENT TENSE.

eat / travel / play / listen to / help / shop / drink / rain / take / do

1. I never __________ coffe before I go to bed

2. She always ___________ her mother with the house work
3. Her husband never ____________the laundry
 4. They usually ______________ the bus to school
5. We seldom ____________ dinner in a restaurant
6. They rarely __________________ to different countries
7. She usually ___________________ at the supermarket near her home
8. We sometimes _________________ cards on the weekend
9. It often __________ in April
10. Teenagers seldom ____________________ their parents.

VI. WRITE SENTENCE ABOUT YOURSELF USING EACH OF THE FREQUENCY

ADVERBS BELOW

1. I always ____________________________________________________________________
2. I usually ____________________________________________________________________
3. I often______________________________________________________________________
4. I sometimes_________________________________________________________________
5. I seldom ____________________________________________________________________
6. I rarely _____________________________________________________________________
7. I never _____________________________________________________________________