Simple Present Tense

Title                 : Understanding Simple Present Tense

Skill focus       : Grammar

Level               : Junior High School

Objective         : By the end of the lesson, students are able to answers some questions related to simple present tense and create sentences using simple present tense

Simple Present Tense

Hello my sweety students!

How are you today? Are you ready to study the lesson? Are you ready to master some new knowledge? So, today, we’re going to learn more about Simple Present Tense. What’s that about? Don't worry, this interesting page will teach you a lot! Enjoy studying champ! :)

Ok, First of all, you need to watch the video below. What I want you to do in the following section is that you need to write all the verbs that you watch in the video. So, just watch the video carefully so that you can catch the verbs correctly. Are you ready guys? Check it out!

 

 

 

OK guys, what are the verbs that you've written? Pay attention to them, please. All of them are in the simple present tense, right? Why? It's because the video is about daily routines, that's why simple present tense is used.

Well, after watching the video, now read the explanation below to give you better understanding about simple present tense.

How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		do		base

There are three important exceptions:

1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Look at these examples with the main verb like:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I, you, we, they			Like	coffee.
	He, she, it			Likes	coffee.
-	I, you, we, they	do	not	Like	coffee.
	He, she, it	does	not	Like	coffee.
?	Do	I, you, we, they		Like	coffee?
	Does	he, she, it		Like	coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

	subject	main verb
+	I	am		French.
	You, we, they	are		French.
	He, she, it	is		French.
-	I	am	not	old.
	You, we, they	are	not	old.
	He, she, it	is	not	old.
?	Am	I		late?
	Are	you, we, they		late?
	Is	he, she, it		late?

How do we use the Present Simple Tense?

We use the present simple tense when:

• the action is general
• the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
• the action is not only happening now
• the statement is always true

John drives a taxi.
past	Present	future
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.

Look at these examples:

• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We meet every Thursday.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the present simple tense for situations that are not general. We can use the present simple tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the present simple tense - some of them are general, some of them are now:

Am I right? Tara is not at home. You are happy.
past	present	future
The situation is now.

I am not fat. Why are you so beautiful? Ram is tall.
past	present	future
The situation is general. Past, present and future.

Well students, simple present tense is easy, isn't it?
Now do the following exercises to check your understanding.

Checking Comprehension

Checking Comprehension 2