Present Simple
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Present Simple
The simple present tense in English is primarily used for two main purposes:
1. To Share Facts: The simple present tense is used to express information that is always true or factual. For example:
– “I speak English.”
– “He works in New York City.”
– “They don’t live in France.” (This is a negative statement.)
2. To Express Regular Actions: It is also used to describe actions that occur regularly or are part of a schedule. This includes events that happen daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For example:
– “I visit my parents every month.”
– “The bus leaves at 3 PM.”
– “He doesn’t call me every day.” (This indicates an action that does not happen regularly.)
These uses highlight the simple present tense’s role in conveying habitual actions and universal
To form negative statements in the simple present tense, you follow these patterns based on the subject of the sentence:
- For subjects “I,” “you,” “we,” or “they”:
– Use “don’t” (the contraction of “do not”) before the infinitive verb.
– Example: “I don’t like coffee.” / “They don’t play soccer.”
- For subjects “he,” “she,” or “it”:
– Use “doesn’t” (the contraction of “does not”) before the infinitive verb.
– Example: “He doesn’t eat meat.” / “She doesn’t go to the gym.”
In both cases, the infinitive verb remains unchanged. You can also add extra information after the verb if needed. For example:
– “He doesn’t have a car.”
– “They don’t visit us every week.”
To make questions in the simple present tense, the structure varies depending on the subject of the sentence. Here are the two main patterns:
- For subjects “I,” “you,” “we,” or “they”:
– Use “do” followed by the subject, then the infinitive verb, and any additional information.
– Structure: **Do + subject + infinitive verb + extra information?**
– Example: “Do you work here?”
- For subjects “he,” “she,” or “it”:
– Use “does” followed by the subject, then the infinitive verb, and any additional information.
– Structure: **Does + subject + infinitive verb + extra information?
– Example: “Does he live in your neighborhood?”
In both cases, the infinitive verb does not change (no “s” is added), and the question can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”
Additionally, for “wh” questions (who, what, where, when, why), the structure is similar:
– For “I,” “you,” “we,” or “they”:
– Wh-word + do + subject + infinitive verb + extra information?
– Example: “What do we need for the party?”
– For “he,” “she,” or “it”:
– Wh-word + does + subject + infinitive verb + extra information?
– Example: “When does he go to the office?”