TENSES
SIMPLE
PRESENT
(See
also Verbs -'Regular verbs in the simple present')
Simple
present, third person singular
Note:
- he, she,
it: in the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
- Negative and
question forms use DOES (=the third person of the auxiliary'DO') +
the infinitive of the verb.
He wants. Does he want? He does not want.
- Verbs ending
in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:
fly 
flies,
cry cries
Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:
play plays,
pray prays
- Add -es
to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
See also Verbs
-'Regular verbs in the simple present', and 'Be, do & have'
Examples:
1. Third person singular with s or -es
a. He goes to school every
morning.
b. She understands English.
c. It mixes the sand and the
water.
d. He tries very hard.
e. She enjoys
playing the piano.
2. Simple present,
form
Example: to
think, present simple
|
Affirmative
|
Interrogative
|
Negative
|
|
I
think
|
Do I think
?
|
I do not
think.
|
|
You
think
|
Do you think?
|
You don't
think.
|
|
he, she,
it thinks
|
Does he,
she, it think?
|
He, she,
it doesn't think.
|
|
we
think
|
Do we think?
|
We don't
think.
|
|
you
think
|
Do you think?
|
You don't
think.
|
The simple present
is used:
- to express habits,
general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions
and wishes:
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London
is a large city (general truth)
- to give instructions
or directions:
You walk for two hundred metres,
then you turn left.
- to express fixed
arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00
- to express future
time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon
as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
BE
CAREFUL!
The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.
See Present Continuous.
Examples:
- For habits
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly.
- 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.
- For general
truths
Water freezes at zero degrees.
The Earth revolves around
the Sun.
Her mother is Peruvian.
- 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.
- For fixed
arrangements
His mother arrives
tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the
26th March
- With future
constructions
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.
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