The Present Simple is a verb tense that mainly describes actions that happen regularly or are generally true all the time.

Mike loves pizza.

The sun rises in the East.

Simon practices the guitar quite often.

How to form the Present Simple

In the Present Simple, most verbs take the root form, except the 3^rd person singular that ends in -s.

• I like speaking English.
• We like speaking English.
• He likes speaking English.

Sure enough, spelling can change here. For a few verbs, the third-person singular ends with -es instead of -s. Typically, these are verbs whose root form ends in o, ch, sh, th, ss, gh, or z.

• She goes to school every day.
• The tiger approaches his prey slowly.
• That kid splashes water all over the people at the beach.

The Present Simple is often used with adverbs of frequency, such as:

• never
• sometimes
• rarely
• seldom
• regularly
• often
• always

​

The negative and interrogative forms

Both forms are made with the auxiliary verb DO or DOES (for 3^rd person singular).

• Do you like reading?
• Does Peter know the answer to this question?
• I don't see the deer you're talking about.
• Tanya doesn't go to the same school as Max.

The verb to be

The verb to be signifies an essential concept of existence. Therefore, it is a powerful verb that often acts as an auxiliary verb in various grammatical tenses. Its forms in the Present Simple are:

• I am
• you are
• he, she, it is
• we are
• you are
• they are

We don't need auxiliary verbs to make the negative or the interrogative form of the verb to be. This verb is strong enough to make them on its own.

• I am not from Italy.
• Sandra is not my sister.
• Is Tony happy to pass his exams?
• Are we there yet?

WH questions

Question words starting with wh always come at the beginning of the sentence.

• Where are you?
• What time is it?
• Why do you think that?
• When does he pick you up?

To finish up this basic revision, let's do a quick exercise. Let us know how you did.

1. I usually _____________ to school at 7. (go)
2. My grandparents _____________us often. (visit)
3. How well _____________your cousin _____________ Tom Cruise? (know)
4. Sheila _____________well at all. (not dance)
5. Why _____________it _____________so much here? (rain)