Grammar lesson ( Simple Present tense)

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

• I take the train to the office.
• The train to Berlin leaves every hour.
• John sleeps eight hours every night during the week.

2. For facts

• The President of The USA lives in The White House.
• A dog has four legs.
• We come from Switzerland.

3. For habits

• I get up early every day.
• Carol brushes her teeth twice a day.
• They travel to their country house every weekend.

4. For things that are always / generally true

• It rains a lot in winter.
• The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace.
• They speak English at work.

5. To describe a process or procedure

• First clean the wound. Then put some medicine on it.
• Boil the syrup and leave it to cool.

6. To give an order or command.

• Keep quiet and do your work.
• Hand in your books now.

7. To give direction.

• Walk down this road.
• Turn left at the next junction.

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.

Subject	Verb	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	speak / learn	English at home
he / she / it	speaks / learns	English at home

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

Don't = Do not

Doesn't = Does not

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.

Subject	don't/doesn't	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	have / buy eat / like etc.	cereal for breakfast
he / she / it	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:

• You don't speak Arabic.
• John doesn't speak Italian.
• We don't have time for a rest.
• It doesn't move.
• They don't want to go to the party.
• She doesn't like fish.

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.

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	have / need want etc.	a new bike?
Does	he / she / it

*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:

Sample Questions	Short Answer (Affirmative)	Short Answer (Negative)
Do you like chocolate?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Do I need a pencil?	Yes, you do.	No, you don't.
Do you both like chocolate?	Yes, we do.	No, we don't.
Do they like chocolate?	Yes, they do.	No, they don't.
Does he like chocolate?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she like chocolate?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it have four wheels?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't.

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.

Have - Has - Go - Goes

Conjugation of Have and Go

To Have = To show possession / a quality

To Go = to show movement (travel) in a specific direction

Subject	To Have	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	have	an old bike.
he / she / it	has	a new car.

Subject	To Go	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	go	to class every day.
he / she / it	goes	to the movies on Friday.

Usually we only add 'S' to a verb when we conjugate it in the third person but notice how To Have and To Go are slightly irregular (though they still both end in S).

Have and Go in Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence in English with To Have and To Go we use Don't or Doesn't followed by Have or Go(never Has or Goes).

Affirmative: You have a pen.

Negative: You don't have a pen.

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 orthey.

Affirmative: He has a pencil.

Negative: He doesn't have a pencil.

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 we don't use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in negative sentences. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

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.

Subject	don't/doesn't	To Have*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	have	cereal for lunch.
he / she / it	doesn't

Subject	don't/doesn't	To Go*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	go	to classes every day.
he / she / it	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 Have:

• You don't have a clue.
• John doesn't have many friends.
• We don't have time for a rest.
• It doesn't have four wheels.
• They don't have the correct answers.
• She doesn't have a nice dress.

Examples of Negative Sentences with Go:

• You don't go to university.
• John doesn't go to parties.
• We don't go to work on the weekend.
• It doesn't go fast.
• They don't go to the beach.
• She doesn't go to church.

Questions with Have and Go

To make a question in English with To Have and To Go, we normally use Do or Does at the beginning of the question.

Affirmative: You have a girlfriend.

Question: Do you have a girlfriend?

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: She has a boyfriend.

Question: Does she have a boyfriend?

When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that we don't use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in questions. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

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.

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	have	a new bike?
Does	he / she / it

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	go	to school?
Does	he / she / it

*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 Have and Go:

• Do you have a dictionary?
• Does Mary have a dictionary?
• Do we go to all the meetings?
• Does she go to all the meetings?

Short Answers with Have and Go

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

Sample Questions	Short Answer (Affirmative)	Short Answer (Negative)
Do you have a car? Do you go to church?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Do I have time? Do I go to work today?	Yes, you do.	No, you don't.
Do you both have time? Do you both go to school?	Yes, we do.	No, we don't.
Do they have a car? Do they go to the pub?	Yes, they do.	No, they don't.
Does he have a car? Does he go to university?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she have a car? Does she go to the gym?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it have four wheels? Does it go slow?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't.

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.

Present Tense - Third Person

English Grammar Rules:

Normally in the present tense we add S to the end of the verb in the 3rd person (He, She, It).

Verb	3rd Person
Speak	Speaks
Play	Plays
Give	Gives
Make	Makes

• He speaks three languages.
• She drinks coffee every morning.
• My dog hates my cat.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs in English in the present tense follow very simple rules. The only change that is made to these verbs is in the third person – for He, She or It.

1. If the verb ends in SS, X, CH, SH or the letter O, we add + ES in the third person.

Verb	3rd Person
Kiss	Kisses
Fix	Fixes
Watch	Watches
Crash	Crashes
Go	Goes

• A mechanic fixes cars.
• She watches soap operas every afternoon.
• He kisses his wife before he goes to work.

2. If the verb ends in a Consonant + Y, we remove the Y and + IES in the third person.

Verb	3rd Person
Carry	Carries
Hurry	Hurries
Study	Studies
Deny	Denies

• Isabel studies every night.
• The baby cries all the time.
• He denies all responsibility.

Negative Sentence

To form the negative we use the auxiliary do not. Again, the only variation occurs in the 3rd person where we usedoes not.

Positive	Negative
I talk	I do not talk
She talks	She does not talk
You sleep	You do not sleep
He sleeps	He does not sleep
Carol studies	Carol does not study
We study	We do not study

In the negative, the main verb is always in the bare infinitive (without TO). It doesn't change for the third person. We don't put an S on the end of the verb in the negative form. 

In the examples above - talk, sleep and study do not change in the 3rd person.

• He speaks Italian
  He doesn't speak Italian.

Remember: Do not can be abbreviated to Don't and Does not can be abbreviated to Doesn't.