Simple Present Tense / Present Indefinite Tense

Simple Present Tense / Present Indefinite Tense

This tense is used to express an action which happens daily, regularly, habitually, or constantly. It is used for routine activities.

Ex:

• I am a student. I go to school.
• He works at a hospital.
• I exercise early in the morning for 30 minutes every day.
• They take tea after lunch.

This tense is used for repeated action. We can also define this tense to show an action which was started in the past, occurs in the present, and will be in the future.

Examples:

• I play tennis.
• He teaches English.
• She always forgets his purse.
• A good teacher motivates his students.
• Parents love their children.

The tense can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact (Universal/general) was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future.  It is not important for the speaker to be correct about the facts.

Examples:

• God is one.

• Muslims pray five times a day.

• Cats like milk.

• Birds do not like milk.

• California is in America.

• California is not in the United Kingdom.

• Windows are made of glass.

• Windows are not made of wood.

• New York is a small city.

• Every twelve months, the Earth completes a circle around the Sun.

• Does the Sun circle the Earth?

 

Some other uses:

We use simple present tense in news headlines to report past events.

As:

• Prime Minister arrives in Islamabad.
• Pakistan beats India in cricket.

We use future time expressions in the simple present tense to express future activity. This is used for scheduled or planned activities.

As:

• We leave for New York tomorrow.
• The meeting starts at 10:00 tomorrow.
• Hurry up! It is getting late. The meeting starts at 10:00 a.m.
• They leave in ten minutes because their plane departs in two hours.

We use simple present tense with sensory verbs.

As:

• It smells tasty.
• Do you believe that it is raining?

This tense is also used in instructions, directions, stories, commentaries, speech act verbs, and formal statements (business or legal communication).

As:

• You read the question first and then answer carefully.
• You take a taxi and you get off at the museum.
• He doesn’t ring back…… she waits for him till he comes.
• Ali takes the ball and gets a chance to shoot.
• I promise you to pay it back on time.
• I attach some documents.

 

Simple Present Forms

We use the base form of the verb or the present form of the verb. “S or ES” is added to the verb in affirmative sentences when a subject is third person singular. Negative forms are made with “Do not or does not”. “Do or does” is used at the beginning of a sentence to make a question.

When we have NOT after DO or DOES in a sentence, we can write it in short form.

Do not = don’t        Does not = doesn’t

Affirmative: 

Subject + verb in simple present form + . . . . .

• Ali studies for three hours every day.
• He disturbs students in the class.
• I appreciate students who participate in curricular activities.
• They visit their relatives once in month.

Negative: 

Subject + do/does + not +verb in simple present form + . . . . .

• Ali does not study for three hours every day.
• He doesn’t disturb students in the class.
• I do not appreciate students who do not participate in curricular activities.
• They don’t visit their relatives every month.

Interrogative:

Do/does + subject + verb in simple present form + . . . . .

• Does Ali study for three hours every day?
• Does he disturb students in the class?
• Do you appreciate students who participate in curricular activities?
• Do they visit their relatives every month?

Negative and Interrogative:

Do/does + not + subject + verb in simple present form + . . . . .(Am Eng)

• Doesn’t Ali study for three hours every day?
• Does not he disturb students in the class?
• Don’t you appreciate students who participate in curricular activities?
• Do not they visit their relatives every month?

Do/does + subject + not + verb in simple present form + . . . . .(Br Eng)

• Does Ali not study for three hours every day?
• Does he not disturb students in the class?
• Do you not appreciate students who participate in curricular activities?
• Do they not visit their relatives every month?

 

Yes/No Questions and Short Answers

A question which is answered by Yes or No is called a Yes/No Question.

A short answer means to use just subject and auxiliary after 'yes or no' to give the answer. A comma is used after Yes or No.

Ex:

• Do you study English at school?

          Yes, I do.

• Does she cook well?

          No, she doesn’t.

• Do they help poor people?

          Yes, they do.

• Do they disturb people on the street?

          No, they don’t.

 

Information Questions (wh questions) and Answers

A question that is asked to interrogate or get information is called an information question.

Ex:

• What does she write?

          She writes stories for kids.

• Where does Ali study?

          He studies in New York.

• When do you play football?

          I play football in the evening.

• Why do you save money?

          Because I want to buy a car.

• Who cooks for you?

          Our mother cooks for us.

• Whose car do you like?

          I like Ali’s car.

• Which book does she read?

          She reads English Grammar Books.

• How does he cook?

          He cooks well.

 

Rules for adding “S or ES” to verbs

“S or ES” is added to the verb in affirmative sentences when the subject is third person singular.

1) Generally, “S” is added to most verbs.

	+ S
Call	Calls
Send	Sends
walk	walks

• My father calls me every night.
• He sends his son pocket money on the 1st of every month.
• Ali walks for 1 hour every morning.

2). If the verb ends in an "E", we add just “S”.

	+S
Like	Likes
Write	Writes
Live	Lives

• He likes taking tea at four o’clock.
• She writes so cleanly and neatly.
• Ali lives in a city and his friend lives in a village.

3). When the verb ends in S, SH, CH, O, X, or Z, we add -ES to the verb.

	+ES
Kiss	Kisses
Wash	Washes
Catch	Catches
Go	Goes
Fix	Fixes
Quiz	Quizzes

• My mother kisses Alina when she leaves for school.
• She washes dishes after lunch.
• A cricket player catches a ball in a better way.
• He goes to the hill on a trip with friends.
• He is a mechanic, so he fixes his car himself.
• She quizzes her students every Monday.

4). When the verb ends in a VOWEL + Y, we add S to the verb.

	+ S
Pay	Pays
Delay	Delays
Pray	Prays

• He pays his bills before the due date.
• She delays her presence in the meeting every time.
• Being a Muslim he prays five times a day.

5). When the verb ends in a CONSONANT + Y, we change Y to I and add ES to the verb.

 

	+ ES
Dry	Dries
Fry	Fries
Fly	Flies

• He dries his hands with a small towel.
• She fries potatoes for me.
• It flies here and there and I like it very much.

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