Present Simple

In English, there are four present tenses: simple present, present perfect, present continuous (or continuous), and present perfect continuous. These four tenses have a total of ten different uses! In this post, we’ll look only at Present Simple.

We use the present simple tense to show a habit, general truth or state a simple fact in the present.

Examples:

The rules

Most verbs add -s or -es to the third person (he, she, or it) in the Present Simple Tense.

We add -es only when the verb ends in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, -z, and -o.

When the verb ends in a vowel + -y we add -s.

When the the verb ends in a consonant + -y, we must change the -y to -i and add -es.

Negative Form

In the negative forms we must add the helping verbs DO for I, you, we, and they, or DOES for he, she, and it, and NOT before the verb. We also have the short forms DON'T and DOESN'T.

Remember! Do not put -s or -es on the verb.

Interrogative Form

In the interrogative form, we put the helping verbs DO or DOES before the subject. DO comes before I, you, we, and they, and DOES comes before he, she, and it.

Remember! Do not add -s or -es to the verb.