Simple Present

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)

Usage

To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:

Examples

• I smoke. (habit)
• I work in London. (unchanging situation)
• London is a large city. (fact/general truth)

To give instructions or directions:

Examples

• You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
• You add two cups of corn flour into the mixture.

To express fixed arrangements, present or future:

Examples

• Your exam starts at 09.00

To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:

Examples

• He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

More Examples

Examples

• For habits
  • He drinks tea at breakfast.
  • She only eats fish.
  • They watch television regularly.

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• 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.

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• For general truths
  • Water freezes at zero degrees.
  • The Earth revolves around the Sun.
  • Her mother is Peruvian.

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• 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.

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• For fixed arrangements
  • His mother arrives tomorrow.
  • Our holiday starts on the 26th March

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• With future constructions
  • She'll see you before she leaves.
  • We'll give it to her when she arrives.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Affirmative

• I drink...
• You drink...
• We drink...
• They drink...
• He drinks...
• She drinks...
• It drinks...

Interrogative

• Do I drink...?
• Do you drink...?
• Do we drink...?
• Do they drink...?
• Does he drink...?
• Does she drink...?
• Does it drink...?

Negative

• I don't drink...
  • I do not drink...
• You don't drink...
  • You do not drink...
• We don't drink...
  • We do not drink...
• They don't drink...
  • They do not drink...
• He doesn't drink...
  • He does not drink...
• She doesn't drink...
  • She does not drink...
• It doesn't drink...
  • It does not drink...

Note on Third Person Singular

In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s in Simple Present Tense:

Examples

• he wants...
• she needs...
• he gives...
• she thinks...

The negative form and the question form use does (= the third person of the auxiliary do) + the infinitive form of the verb.

Examples

• He wants ice cream.
• Does he want strawberry?
• He does not want vanilla ice-cream.