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simple present

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English Grammar Rules

The simple present tense in English is used to describe an action that is regular, true or normal.

We use the present tense:
1. For repeated or regular actions in the present time period. 2. For facts. 3. For habits. 4. For things that are always / generally true.

Verb Conjugation & Spelling

We form the present tense using the base form of the infinitive (without the TO).

In general, in the third person we add ' S' in the third person.

The spelling for the verb in the third person differs depending on the ending of that verb:

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

go - goes

catch - catches

wash - washes

kiss - kisses

fix - fixes

buzz - buzzes

2. For verbs that end in a consonant + Y, we remove the Y and add-IES.

marry - marries

study - studies

carry - carries

worry - worries

NOTE: For verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we just add -S.

play - plays

enjoy - enjoys

say - says

Negative Sentences in the Simple Present Tense

To make a negative sentence in English we normally use Don't or Doesn't with all verbs EXCEPT To Be and Modal verbs (can, might, should etc.).

Affirmative: You speak French.
Negative: You don't speak French.

You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.

Affirmative: He speaks German.
Negative: He doesn't speak German.

When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the negative sentence. We will see the reason why below.

Negative Contractions

I don't like meat = I do not like meat.

There is no difference in meaning though we normally use contractions in spoken English.

Word Order of Negative Sentences

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Negative Sentences with Don't and Doesn't:

Questions in the Simple Present Tense

To make a question in English we normally use Do or Does. It has no translation in Spanish though it is essential to show we are making a question. It is normally put at the beginning of the question.

Affirmative: You speak English.
Question: Do you speak English?

You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.

Affirmative: He speaks French.
Question: Does he speak French?

When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.

We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must, might, should etc.)

Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Questions with Do and Does:

Do you need a dictionary?

Does Mary need a dictionary?

Do we have a meeting now?

Does it rain a lot in winter?

Do they want to go to the party?

Does he like pizza?

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

Next activities

Grammar Rules:
Check out the conjugation rules for Have Has Go Goes and Verbs in the Third Person. We also have more information about Do vs. Does and Don't vs. Doesn't.

Grammar Games:
Practice this tense with our interactive game at: Simple Present Tense or Have - Has - Go - Goes

El Presente Simple en inglés explicado en español

If you found this grammar guide about the Simple Present Tense useful, let others know about it:

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English Grammar lesson - Present Simple Tense in English

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Students will practice the Simple present tense, adverb of frequency, and some vocabulary.

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1. Home

2. Video lessons

3. He lives in you

tanagoria February 01, 2020

Task description & scene summary

The students get the chance to practise Present Simple with this beautiful song.

It is a trailer of the recent Disney movie King Lion where they show a short story of the cub

Video length: 2 minutes 27 seconds

Copyright license: Creative Commons Attribution License

First published: 2020-02-01, 18:37:24 (GMT+1)

KIERAN DONAGHY ABOUT ISLCOLLECTIVE VIDEO QUIZZES:

"iSLCollective Interactive Video Quizzes are highly engaging and motivating multimodal texts for English language students to learn vocabulary and improve their listening skills. They are the perfect complement to the creative and innovative lesson plans on Film English."
Kieran Donaghy,
Creator ofFilmEnglish.com, a site with hundreds of high quality, free ESL/EFL lesson plans created around short films

Video quiz questions (printable)

1)

Put the words in order: of calling spirit Night, the life and

2)

Find the extra word: And a voice with the fear of a child not answers

3)

Fill the gap: Wait, ________________________ no mountain too great

4)

Correct the wrong word: Hear the words and has faith

5)

Fill the gap: He ________________________ in you

6)

Correct the wrong word: He live in me

7)

Find the extra word: He is watches over

8)

Put the words in order: see everything we

9) I your reflection he ... in you

10)

Correct the wrong word: He is in you

11)

Find the extra word: He am lives in me

12)

Fill the gap: He ________________________ over

13) Everything we ...

14)

Fill the gap: In your reflection, he ________________________ in you

KIERAN DONAGHY ABOUT ISLCOLLECTIVE VIDEO QUIZZES:

"iSLCollective Interactive Video Quizzes are highly engaging and motivating multimodal texts for English language students to learn vocabulary and improve their listening skills. They are the perfect complement to the creative and innovative lesson plans on Film English."
Kieran Donaghy,
Creator ofFilmEnglish.com, a site with hundreds of high quality, free ESL/EFL lesson plans created around short films

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He lives in you - English ESL video lesson

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Home Video lessons He lives in you tanagoria February 01, 2020 The students get the chance to practise Present Simple with this beautiful song.

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1. Home

2. Video lessons

3. Robbie Williams-Feel for present simple

gozdeteacherprtl December 15, 2020

Task description & scene summary

Listen to the song and answer the questions. Use your dictionary when necessary.

A song by a British singer, Robbie Williams. Most of the lyrics include present simple structures.

Video length: 2 minutes 22 seconds

Copyright license: Creative Commons Attribution License

First published: 2020-12-15, 19:51:40 (GMT+1)

KIERAN DONAGHY ABOUT ISLCOLLECTIVE VIDEO QUIZZES:

"iSLCollective Interactive Video Quizzes are highly engaging and motivating multimodal texts for English language students to learn vocabulary and improve their listening skills. They are the perfect complement to the creative and innovative lesson plans on Film English."
Kieran Donaghy,
Creator ofFilmEnglish.com, a site with hundreds of high quality, free ESL/EFL lesson plans created around short films

Video quiz questions (printable)

1)

Put the words in order: I sure understand Not

2) I sit and ________ to God

3)

Fill the gap: My head ________________________ a language

4)

Put the words in order: I feel love just wanna real

5)

Fill the gap: I ________________________ wanna die

6) I can ______ myself coming

7)

Fill the gap: I just wanna feel ________________________

8)

Find the extra word: I don't need to feel real love

KIERAN DONAGHY ABOUT ISLCOLLECTIVE VIDEO QUIZZES:

"iSLCollective Interactive Video Quizzes are highly engaging and motivating multimodal texts for English language students to learn vocabulary and improve their listening skills. They are the perfect complement to the creative and innovative lesson plans on Film English."
Kieran Donaghy,
Creator ofFilmEnglish.com, a site with hundreds of high quality, free ESL/EFL lesson plans created around short films

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Robbie Williams-Feel for present simple - English ESL video lesson

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Home Video lessons Robbie Williams-Feel for present simple gozdeteacherprtl December 15, 2020 Listen to the song and answer the questions. Use your dictionary when necessary. A song by a British singer, Robbie Williams. Most of the lyrics include present simple structures.

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grammar

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Like – likes – don’t like – doesn’t like

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Like – likes – don’t like – doesn’t like

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Woodward English - Learning English - Teaching English

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Like, Likes, Don't like, Doesn't like - Present Simple Tense in English

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES WITH LIKE
Like + thing/object/person
Let's look at the first sentence again.

But for this person, SHE.... what do we say? We say...

For he, she, it we use LIKES with an S at the end.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES WITH LIKE

Look at this sentence:

Yes, I work at a zoo, and I like snakes. This is an affirmative sentence.
How can we make this a negative sentence?

We use DON'T to make negatives sentences (in the present simple tense) when the subject is I, YOU, WE, or THEY. You put DON'T before the verb.

Don't is a contraction of do not. You can say:

Contractions are very common in spoken English.

More examples of negative sentences with don't like:

Now look at this sentence:

What is the negative of this? The negative of this is...

We use DOESN'T to make negatives sentences (in the present simple tense) when the subject is HE, SHE, or IT. You put DOESN'T before the verb.

NOTICE: There is no S at the end of LIKE. There is no S at the end of the verb in negative sentences.
We cannot say:

He doesn't likes dogs. This is not correct.

He doesn't LIKE dogs. This is correct.

Also doesn't is a contraction of does not.
You can say:

Contractions are more common in spoken English.

More examples of negative sentences with doesn't like:

He doesn't like bad news.

She doesn't like winter.

My cat doesn't like dogs.
(My cat refers to IT... itdoesn't like dogs)

Remember: NO S at the end of like in negative sentences.

QUESTIONS WITH LIKE

For questions, we simply add DO or DOES at the beginning.

You like chocolate. (This is an affirmative sentence)

How can we change this into a question?
For I, you, we, they we add DO at the beginning to make it a question. It becomes...

And with this sentence...

He likes chocolate. (This is an affirmative sentence)

How can we change this into a question?
For he, she, it we add DOES at the beginning to make it a question.

Again, there is no S at the end of the verb in questions.

Look at the following questions.
We can respond with short answers.

More examples of questions using like:

Do you like fast food? Yes, I do.

Do they like secrets? Yes, they do.

Does she like sales? Yes, she does.

Does he like broccoli? Yes, he does.

Answer these questions about you:

Do you like dogs?

Do you like coffee?

Do you like pizza?

Do you like horror movies?

English Practice Exercises

Lesson tags: Affirmative sentences, Like, Negative, Present Tense, Questions, Verbs, Vocabulary

Back to: English Course > Present Simple Tense

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Like - likes - don't like - doesn't like Woodward English

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Like + thing/object/person Let's look at the first sentence again. But for this person, SHE.... what do we say? We say... For he, she, it we use LIKES with an S at the end. Look at this sentence: Yes, I work at a zoo, and I like snakes.

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practice

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Woodward English - Learning English - Teaching English

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Don't and Doesn't in English

This is an affirmative (or positive) sentence.

How can we make this affirmative sentence (+) a negative sentence (-)?

We do not say: I no speak English. (NOT correct)
We say: I don't speak English. (Correct)
We normally use Don't or Doesn't to make a negative sentence in the simple present tense.
Let's look at the difference between DON'T and DOESN'T.

DON'T - Negative Sentences with DON'T in English

We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they. We add don't between the subject and the verb.

I speak English.
I don't speak English.

You speak Spanish.
You don't speak Spanish.

We speak French.
We don't speak French.

They speak Arabic.
They don't speak Arabic.
You see that don't makes the sentence negative when the subject is I, You, We or They.

DOESN'T - Negative Sentences with DOESN'T in English

Now let's look at third person sentences using he, she and it. Again, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence.

Notice how the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the negative sentence.
Why does this happen?
The verb after the negative don't or doesn't is the base form of the infinitive.
Remember, the infinitive is the verb before it is changed. To go, To need, To speak, To live ... these are all infinitives which means that they are the original form of the verb before any changes. We know they are in the infinitive form because of the TO at the beginning.

But for negative sentences we want the BASE form of the infinitive. This means the infinitive without TO. Instead of To go, it is just go. Instead of To speak, it is just speak.

He speaks Spanish. (+)

He doesn't speak Spanish. (-) (no S at the end of speak)

Third person verbs lose the final S in negative sentences.

Another example:

She speaks Italian. (+)

She doesn't speak Italian. (-)

Again you can see that in the negative sentence, speak does not have an S at the end because it is the base form of the infinitive.

Let's see a couple more examples:

Phillip needs a dictionary.
What is the negative of this?

Phillip doesn't need a dictionary.
(No S at the end of the verb Need)

The dog wants a bone. (+)
What is the negative of this?

The dog doesn't want a bone. (-)
(No S at the end of the verb Want)

Negative Sentences with HAVE and GO

Now let's look at some verbs that change a little more.
The first one is the verb .

I have a new bike.
What is the negative of this?

I don't have a new bike.
The infinitive is To Have but we just need its base form ... have.

But let's look at the third person, for example with He.

He has a new bike.
What is the negative of this?

He doesn't have a new bike.
We NEVER say: he doesn'thas a bike.

Why do we use HAVE in the negative and not HAS?
Because the verb after don't or doesn't is the base form of the infinitive.
The infinitive of has is To have.
The base of the infinitive is have (without the TO at the beginning)

Let's make negatives sentences with the verb To Go.
To Go is the infinitive. Its base form is just Go.

I go to the beach. (What is the negative form of this?)

I don't go to the beach.

Daniel goes to the beach.
Goes is used with he, she, or it. Daniel is He.
How can I change this to a negative sentence?

Daniel doesn't go to the beach.
Go because it is the base form of the infinitive.

We use Don't and Doesn't to make negative sentences in the simple present tense EXCEPT with the verb To Be and Modal verbs such as can, might, should etc. which we will see in another lesson.

Be careful...

We don't say: I no live in Japan. This is NOT correct.
We say: I don't live in Japan. This is correct.

We say: She has a cat.
We do not say: She doesn't has a cat. This is NOT correct. We need the base form of the infinitive which is HAVE and not has.
The correct way is: She doesn't have a cat.

Contractions

I don't speak Japanese. = I do not speak Japanese.

He doesn't speak Korean. = He does not speak Korean.

There is no difference in meaning though we use contractions a lot in spoken English.

Practice Activity
Complete the following sentences with don't or doesn't.

I live in a house. I _______ live in an apartment.

She _______ like spiders.

You _______ need a dictionary.

We _______ have cake for breakfast.

It _______ rain much in summer.

Jack and Jill _______ want to go up the hill.

Mike lives in New Zealand. He _______ live in Australia.

The answers appear in the video.

Don't vs. Doesn't - Practice Video

Summary Chart

Back to: English Course > Present Simple Tense

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Don't and Doesn't in English - Simple Present Tense - Negative Sentences Woodward English

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How to make a negative sentence in English using DON'T and DOESN'T - Simple Present Tense grammar lesson

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Woodward English - Learning English - Teaching English

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List of Daily Routines in English

(You can hear the pronunciation of each phrase in the video)

I wake up

I turn off my alarm

I get up

I take a shower / I have a shower

I get dressed

I comb my hair

I make breakfast

I eat breakfast / I have breakfast

I brush my teeth

I go to work

I start work at 9

I answer emails

I eat lunch / I have lunch

I work on my computer

I finish work at 5

I go home

I arrive home

I feed the dog

I cook dinner

I eat dinner / I have dinner

I watch TV

I read a book

I go to bed

I fall asleep

Daily routines for School

I go to school

I have classes

I eat lunch / I have lunch

I finish school at 3

I go home

I do my homework

Notice how in this lesson all of these phrases are in the simple present tense and have I (first person singular) as the subject. In another lesson we will look at daily routines using third person (he, she).

Practice Exercises

Try our interactive game to practice daily routines and using the correct verb: Daily Routines Vocabulary Game

Video practice: In the final section of the video there is a practice exercise where a cartoon of a daily routine appears on the screen. There are also three phrases next to the cartoon and you must choose which phrase best describes that activity. The answer appears after 5 seconds (approximately).

Daily Routines for Adults

This video has the same English vocabulary that appears as the video at the top of the page though is aimed at adults learning English.
Instead of static cartoons, you will see two short videos (5 seconds each) showing adults in each daily routine mentioned above.
I give the English pronunciation of each word twice (once for each short video).
This lesson also includes the American English 🇺🇸 and British English 🇬🇧 versions of daily routines when there is a difference.

English Summary Chart

Daily Routines English Vocabulary explained in Spanish

Nuestra lección de vocabulario de las rutinas diarias en inglés explicada en español (con pronunciación):

Lesson tags: Daily Routines, First Person, Present Tense, Verbs, Vocabulary

Back to: English Course > Present Simple Tense

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Daily Routines in English Woodward English

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A list of daily routines in English with videos to help with the pronunciation of these common English phrases. Includes practice exercises and teacher resource.