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The simple present tense is one of the most common tenses in English. It may be used to express:

• general truths;
• a habitual action;
• an occurrence in the future;
• commands

The simple present tense is NOT used to express action that is happening now. We use present continuous for that.

We form the present simple by using: – Subject + Infinitive or Third Person + Infinitive + (s). For the person infinitives we add:

• -s to regular verbs (He thinks).
• -es to verbs ending by -s, -sh, -ch (She mixes).
• -ies to verbs ending with -y (Mark carries).

 

Let’s take a look at some examples:

 

First person	Third person	Notes
The world is round		this is a general truth
I drink coffee every morning	He drinks coffee every morning	this is a habitual action
I’ll see you soon	She’ll see you soon	this is talking about the future
Walk down and to the left		this is a command

 

You can ask questions with the simple present tense using the following formulae:

 

• “Do” for I, you, we and they. For example: What do you do?
• “Does” for he, she and it. For example: What does she do?

You can add “not” after “do” and “does” to create a negative sentence. For example: I do not read books, she does not read books.

 

Let’s do some exercises with what we have learned already. Place the appropriate simple present word in the gaps: watch, wash, drive, talk, know, enjoy, read, know.

 

Let’s _____ the window.

He _____ TV all day.

She _____ with her mother on the phone every day.

She _____ so many things that I don’t ____.

Do you know how to _____ a car?

I ____ drinking tea. || I heard he likes to ____ books.