The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes)
To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes: I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth)
To give instructions or directions: You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
To express fixed arrangements, present or future: Your exam starts at 09.00
To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until: He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
Be careful! The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.
Examples
For habits He drinks tea at breakfast. She only eats fish. They watch television regularly.
For repeated actions or events We catch the bus every morning. It rains every afternoon in the hot season. They drive to Monaco every summer.
For general truths Water freezes at zero degrees. The Earth revolves around the Sun. Her mother is Peruvian.
For instructions or directions Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water. You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford.
For fixed arrangements His mother arrives tomorrow. Our holiday starts on the 26th March
With future constructions She'll see you before she leaves. We'll give it to her when she arrives.
Forming the simple present tense: to think
Affirmative
Interrogative
Negative
I think
Do I think?
I do not think
You think
Do you think?
You do not think
He thinks
Does he think?
He does not think
She thinks
Does she think?
She does not think
It thinks
Does it think?
It does not think
We think
Do we think?
We do not think.
They think
Do they think?
They do not think.
Notes on the simple present, third person singular
In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s: he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of the auxiliary 'DO') + the infinitive of the verb. He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla.
Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies: fly --> flies, cry --> cries Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y: play --> plays, pray --> prays
Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch: he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
Simple Present Tense Examples Used to Denote General Statements / Universal Truths. When general statements or universal truths are mentioned, the verb used should be the simple present tense. The Sun rises in the East. It rains heavily during the monsoons. The planets revolve around the Sun.
We use the simple present tense when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly (or unceasingly, which is why it's sometimes called present indefinite). Depending on the person, the simple present tense is formed by using the root form or by adding s or es to the end.
The simple present is used to refer to habits, unchanging situations or states, general truths, and scheduled events in the future. Most verbs in the simple present tense use the infinitive form (e.g., “run”).
Simple verb tense can be divided into three categories: past, present, and future. Present Tense: He writes a letter today. Past Tense: I wrote a letter yesterday. Future Tense: I will write a letter tomorrow.
"Write" and "writes" are both used in the simple present tense. "Write" is used for the first and second person (singular and plural), as well as the third person plural. "Writes" is used for the third person singular.
My mom is cooking dinner. The band is playing all the classics. Monica and Rachel are going on a trip tomorrow. Sheethal is not practising for the final audition.
Simple present tense describes a constant or repeating action that is currently happening. For example: We sing all the time. Simple present tense is usually formed using the infinite form of a verb except for when it's singular third person when an -s is added, e.g. I sit, we sit, you sit, they sit, he sits, she sits.
Simple present tense is denoted by adding 's' or 'es' to verbs when the sentence has a singular or collective noun. The flamingos arrive every year.Sun rises in the east. This type of present tense describes things that are happening right now.
The simple present tense is used to denote actions that take place at the current moment, universal truths, habitual actions and general statements. Time and tide wait for none. Water turns into steam when heated. There are seven continents in the world.
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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