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How to Use the Simple Present Tense for English

Updated: Jan 10, 2022

Explanation

The simple present tense in English language is used to describe an action that is true, regular or normal. Some of the examples of the Simple Present Tense are as below-

  1. Simple present tense used for repeated or regular actions in the present time period

E.g.:

  • I take the bus home.

  • The train to Mumbai leaves every hour.

  • Joe sleeps six hours every night during the week.


  1. Simple Present Tense used for facts

E.g.:

  • The President of The USA lives in The White House.

  • A Lion has four legs.


  1. Simple present tense for habits

E.g.:

  • Cassie brushes her teeth twice a day.

  • My parents travel to their country house every weekend


  1. Simple present tense for things which are always / generally true

E.g.:

  • It rains a lot in winter.

  • The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace.



  1. The basic rule to form the simple present tense is by using the base form of the infinitive. In general, we add 'S' in the third person while making Simple Present Tense.

E.g.:

Subject Verb remaining sentence

I/ You/We/They talk/learn French at school

He /She/ it talks/ learns French at school

  1. For verbs that end in -O, -CH, -SH, -SS, -X, or -Z we add -ES in the third person while making Simple Present Tense

E.g.: go – goes, catch – catches, wash – washes, fix – fixes

c) For verbs that end in a consonant + Y, we remove the Y and add –ies, while making Simple Present Tense

E.g.: marry – marries, study – studies, carry – carries, worry – worries

d) For verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we add –S, while making Simple Present Tense

E.g.: play – plays, enjoy – enjoys, say – says


  • Affirmative Sentence

Subject Verb Rest of the sentence

e.g.: He speaks German

  • Negative Sentence

Subject Auxiliary Verb Rest of the sentence

I, We, You, They do + not Verb (Present) Rest of the sentence

He, She, It does + not Verb (Present) Rest of the sentence.

e.g.: He doesn't speak German

  • Interrogative Sentence

Auxiliary Does He, She, It Verb Rest of the sentence

e.g.: Does he speak German


  1. It is used when something is generally or always true

e.g.:

  • People need water to survive

  • Two and two make four.


  1. It is used for a situation that we think is more or less permanent

e.g.:

  • Where do you live?

  • She works in defense


  1. It is used for habits or things that we do regularly.

e.g.:

  • Do you smoke?

  • I play Cricket every Sunday.










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