When Should I Use The Present Simple Tense?
1: First, we use the Present Simple when something is generally true:
The sun rises in the east.
People need food.
It snows in winter.
The sky isn't green.
Plants die without water.
Two and two make four.
2: We also need to use this tense for a situation that we think is more or less
permanent (see the present continuous for a temporary situation - one which
we think won't last long):
Where do you live?
She works in a bank.
They love coffee.
She has three children.
I am married.
I don't like mushrooms.
3: The next use is for habits or things that we do regularly. We often
use adverbs of frequency in this case (also see the present continuous for
new, temporary or annoying habits):
Do you smoke?
I play tennis every Tuesday.
We often go to the cinema.
She gets up at seven o'clock every day.
At the weekend, we usually go to the market.
How often do you study English?
I don't travel very often.
4: Four, we use the simple present to talk about what happens in books, plays,
or films:
The hero dies at the end of the film.
A young woman travels through Europe, where she meets different
people, and finally falls in love.
In this book, an army invades Britain.
The main character is very pretty and works in a bookshop.
5: We use it in the first and the zero conditionals:
If it rains, I won't come.
If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
6: Strangely, we can use this tense to talk about the future. When you are
discussing a timetable or a fixed plan, you can use this tense. Usually, the
timetable is fixed by an organisation, not by us:
School begins at nine tomorrow.
Our train leaves at eleven.
What time does the film start?
The plane doesn't arrive at seven, it arrives at seven thirty.
When does the class finish?
7: We also use it to talk about the future after words like ' 'when', 'until', 'after',
'before' and 'as soon as' in a future sentence:
I will call you when I have time. (Not: 'will have')
I won't go out until it stops raining.
She'll come as soon as her babysitter arrives.
I'm going to make dinner after I watch the news.
I'll give you the book before you go.
8: We need to use this simple tense with stative verbs (verbs which we don't
use in continuous tenses), in situations where we'd usually use the present
continuous:
This soup tastes great.
You look fabulous.
I think she is very pretty.
I am cold.
I promise I will help you.
Simple present tense with 'be'
The verb 'be' is different from the other verbs in this tense. Let's look
at 'be' first:
Here's the positive form (positive means a normal sentence, not a negative or
a question. This is sometimes called 'affirmative')
Positive Positive Short Form
I am I'm
you are you're
he is he's
she is she's
it is it's
we are we're
they are they're
The Present Simple Tense
We need to use the Present Simple a lot in English, so it's really important to
understand it well. Many students have problems with the form (or how to make it).
If you'd prefer to learn about how to USE the Present Simple jump to this
page.
Or, click here for all the practice exercises about this tense.
Simple present tense with 'be'
The verb 'be' is different from the other verbs in this tense. Let's look at 'be' first:
Here's the positive form (positive means a normal sentence, not a negative or a
question. This is sometimes called 'affirmative')
Positive Positive Short Form
I am I'm
you are you're
he is he's
she is she's
it is it's
we are we're
they are they're
Click here to practise making the positive with 'be'.
Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add 'not'.
Negative Negative short form
I am not I'm not
you are not you aren't
he is not he isn't
she is not she isn't
it is not it isn't
we are not we aren't
they are not they aren't
And finally let's talk about the question form of the present simple with 'be'.
Firstly, here's the 'yes / no' question form:
Yes / No Questions
am I ?
are you ?
is he ?
is she ?
is it ?
are we ?
are they ?
If you'd like to make a 'wh' question, you just put the question word at the
front:
Wh Questions
where am I ?
what are you ?
why is he ?
who is she ?
when are we ?
how are they ?
Present simple tense with other verbs
With all other verbs, we make the present simple in the same way.
The positive is really easy. It's just the verb with an extra 's' if the subject is
'he', 'she', or 'it'. Let's take the verb 'play' as an example:
Positive (of 'play')
I play
you play
he plays
she plays
it plays
we play
they play
To make the negative form, you need to use 'do not' (don't) or ' does not'
(doesn't).
Negative (of 'play')
I do not play I don't play
you do not play you don't play
he does not play he doesn't play
she does not play she doesn't play
it does not play it doesn't play
we do not play we don't play
they do not play they don't play
How about the question form of the present simple tense?
We use 'do' or 'does' before the subject to make the 'yes / no' question:
Yes / No questions
do I play ?
do you play ?
does he play ?
does she play ?
does it play ?
do we play ?
do they play ?
Just like with 'be', if you'd like to make a 'wh' question, you just put the
question word at the front:
Wh Questions
where do I play ?
what do you play ?
why does he play ?
who does she play ?
when do we play ?
how do they play ?
When to Say a or an
https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/a-an.htm
The indefinite article is a or an. But how do we know when to say a and when to
say an?
The rule is really very simple. It depends on the sound at the start of the
following word. (It does not depend on the way we write the following word, it
depends on the way we say it.)
a + consonant sound
If the following word starts with a consonant sound, then we say a:
a cat
a game of golf
a human emotion
a Peruvian
a very nice lady
an + vowel sound
If the following word starts with a vowel sound, then we say an:
an apple
an easy job
an interesting film
an old man
an umbrela
The Importance of Sound
Normally, we pronounce consonant letters with a consonant sound, and vowel
letters with a vowel sound. But there are some exceptions. The rule
about a or an is still the same. You just need to think about the sound, not the
writing. Look at these examples:
vowel letter but consonant sound
a European country you-ro-pe-an
a one-day won-day
conference
a university you-ni-ver-si-ty
consonant letter but vowel sound
an honest man on-est
an hour our
consonant letter but vowel sound
an FBI agent eff-bee-eye
Formation of plural nouns
http://www.englishgrammar.org/formation-plural-nouns/
The plural noun is generally formed by adding -s to the singular.
Cow (singular), cows (plural)
Boy, boys
Girl, girls
Book, books
Tree, trees
Dog, dogs
Pen, pens
Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch or -x form the plural by adding -es to the
singular.
Class (singular), classes (plural)
Brush, brushes
Kiss, kisses
Match, matches
Dish, dishes
Most nouns ending in -o also form their plural by adding -es to the
singular.
Mango (singular), mangoes (plural)
Hero, heroes
Potato, potatoes
Volcano, volcanoes
Note that a few nouns ending in -o merely add -s.
Dynamo (singular), dynamos (plural)
Piano, pianos
Photo, photos
Logo, logos
Kilo, kilos
Nouns ending in a consonant + y form their plural by changing -y into -i
and adding -es.
Baby (singular), babies (plural)
Lady, ladies
City, cities
Story, stories
The following nouns ending in -f or -fe form their plural by changing -f or
-fe into v and adding -es.
Thief (singular), thieves (plural)
Wife, wives
Leaf, leaves
Half, halves
Self, selves
Calf, calves
Loaf, loaves
Knife, knives
Elf, elves
Wolf, wolves
Shelf, shelves
Most other nouns ending in -f or -fe add -s.
Chief (singular), chiefs
Gulf, gulfs
Safe, safes
Proof, proofs
A few nouns form their plural by making some changes to inside vowels.
Foot (singular), feet (plural)
Man, men
Woman, women
Tooth, teeth
Mouse, mice
Goose, geese
Demonstrative Pronouns
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/pronouns-
demonstrative.htm
Demonstrate (verb): to show; to indicate; to point to
Demonstrative pronoun represents a thing or things:
near in distance or time (this, these)
far in distance or time (that, those)
near • far ⇒
singular ☺ this that
plural ☺☺☺ these those
Here are some examples with demonstrative pronouns, followed by an
illustration:
This tastes good.
Have you seen this?
These are bad times.
Do you like these?
That is beautiful.
Look at that!
Those were the days!
Can you see those?
This is heavier than that.
These are bigger than those.
There is - There are
We use there is and there are to say that something exists.
Positive Sentences
We use there is for singular and there are for plural.
There is one table in the classroom.
There are three chairs in the classroom.
There is a spider in the bath.
There are many people at the bus stop.
Contractions
The contraction of there is is there's.
There's a good song on the radio.
There's only one chocolate left in the box.
You cannot contract there are.
There are nine cats on the roof.
There are only five weeks until Christmas.
Negative Form
The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:
There is not a horse in the field.
There are not eight children in the school.
There is not a tree in the garden.
There are not two elephants in the zoo.
The Negative contractions are:
There's not = There isn't
There are not = There aren't
There Are with ANY
When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there
aren't any.
There aren't any people at the party.
There aren't any trees in my street.
We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:
There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
There isn't any sugar in my coffee.
Questions
To form a question we place is / are in front of there.
Again we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.
We also use there is / are in short answers.
Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.
Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.
Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.
Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.
Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.
How Many with Are There
If we want to find out the number of objects that exist, we use how many in the following
form:
How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).
How many dogs are there in the park?
How many students are there in your class?
How many countries are there in South America?
How many Star Wars films are there?
Countable and uncountable nouns
http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/countable-
and-uncountable-nouns/
It's important to distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns in
English because their usage is different in regards to both determiners and
verbs.
COUNTABLE NOUNS
Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a
singular and a plural form. The singular form can use the determiner "a" or "an".
If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask "How many?"
combined with the plural countable noun.
Singular Plural
one dog two dogs
one horse two horses
one man two men
one idea two ideas
one shop two shops
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They
may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are
too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.).
Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a
plural form.
EXAMPLES
tea
sugar
water
air
rice
knowledge
beauty
anger
fear
love
money
research
safety
evidence
We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of an uncountable
noun, use a word or expression like some, a lot of, much, a bit of, a great deal
of , or else use an exact measurement like a cup of, a bag of, 1kg of, 1L of, a
handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of. If you want to ask about the quantity
of an uncountable noun, you ask "How much?"
