Present Simple Verb Form in English - English Verb Tenses

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In this lesson, you can learn about the present simple verb tense in English.

How many ways do you know to use the present simple?

The present simple doesn’t just have one or two uses; there are at least eight common

uses, and many more special cases.

In this lesson, you can learn all about the present simple tense.

Beginners can learn simple ways to use this verb form, and more advanced students can

learn about more complex uses of the present simple.

Ready?

OK, let’s start!

First question: how can you form the present simple?

To use the present simple, you need to remember three things:

First, add an 's' or 'es' to the verb in the third person singular, for example, after

'he', 'she', or 'it'.

Make negatives using 'don't' or 'doesn't'; use 'doesn't' again for the 3rd person - after

'he', 'she' or 'it'.

Make questions with 'do' or 'does.'

For example:

"I visit them once a week."

"She visits them once a week."

We add an 's' to the verb after he/she/it.

"I have a lot of things to do."

"I don't have a lot of things to do."

We make negatives with .don't'.

"I don't have much time."

"He doesn't have much time."

We make negatives with 'doesn't' after he/she/it.

"You have a big family."

"Do you have a big family?"

We make questions with 'do'.

"Do you live in this building?"

"Does she live in this building?"

For the 3rd person, we make questions with 'does'.

You can see that when we use 'does' or 'doesn't', we don't add 's' to the verb.

OK, that shows you how to form the present simple, but how can you use it?

Let's look at the different ways you can use this verb form.

Part two: talking about a regular action.

This is one of the most common uses of the present simple.

Let's just look at some examples:

"She calls her parents every week."

"I don't often go to the gym."

Or, "Do you always eat so quickly?"

In all of these sentences, we are talking about actions which happen (or don't happen)

regularly.

These actions are not happening at this moment.

This is a simple use of the present simple, which you maybe knew already.

But we’ve only just started.

How else can you use the present simple?

Do you know any other ways?

Let's look.

Part three: talking about general truths.

If you want to talk about something which is generally true, you will also need the

present simple.

For example:

"The Moon goes around the Earth."

"The Nile is the longest river in the world."

Or, "Elephants live for 60 or 70 years on average."

These things are generally true because they aren’t just true at one moment.

They were true 100 years ago; they’re true today, and they’ll be true 100 years in

the future.

Compare this to the previous idea: talking about regular actions.

In both cases, we use the present simple to talk about something which is true not just

at this moment, but also in the future and the past.

This idea is an important part of the meaning of the present simple.

We'll see it again.

Part four: talking about states and situations.

'Throwing' is an action.

It’s something which can be happening at one moment.

A question: are all verbs actions?

Think about a verb like 'seem'.

Is 'seeming' an action?

Can you say, "You’re seeming very quiet today?"

No, and no.

Verbs like 'seem' describe states, not actions.

We use the present simple to talk about all states in the present.

For example:

"You seem a bit quiet today."

"He has a lot of experience in his subject."

Or, "Why does this one cost more than the others?"

Many verbs which describe states, like 'seem' or 'cost' can only be used in simple tenses.

They don’t exist in continuous tenses.

Again, you can see the same idea of something which is true not just now, at this moment,

but also in the future and the past.

If you say, "He has a lot of experience in his subject," that means that he had a lot

of experience last week, and he’ll have a lot of experience next week, too.

It’s not just about this moment.

Part five: using the present simple with verbs of sensing, feeling, thinking or speaking.

With many verbs of sensing (like 'hear', 'see' or 'smell'), feeling (like 'like', 'love'

or 'hate') thinking (like 'know', 'realise' or 'remember') or speaking (like 'promise',

'admit' or 'advise'), we use the present simple.

This is because many of these verbs describe states, and the present simple is used to

talk about states, as you saw just now.

Let's look at some more examples:

"This cheese smells a bit strange."

"I don't like going shopping."

"Do you realise what you're doing?"

"I promise it won't happen again."

In all of these sentences, only the present simple is possible.

You can't say, "Are you realising what you're doing?"

Or, "I'm promising it won’t happen again."

Part six: talking about long-lasting situations.

If you say, "She lives with her friend."

Or,

"She’s living with her friend."

Are they the same?

If not, what’s the difference?

They’re different.

If you say, "She lives with her friend," with the present simple, this suggests that the

situation is permanent, or at least long-lasting.

She’s not just staying with her friend for a few weeks.

She lives with her friend, permanently.

If you say, "She’s living with her friend," with the present continuous, this suggests

that the situation is temporary.

Maybe she’s just staying with her friend while she looks for her own place.

When we use the present simple to talk about a situation, it suggests that the situation

has continued for a long time, and/or that we expect this situation to continue for a

long time into the future.

In some cases, it's possible to use either the present simple or the present continuous

in the same sentence, but the meanings would be different.

Using the present simple shows a situation is long-lasting or permanent, while using

the present continuous shows that a situation is just temporary.

For example:

"He works for a small design company."

This is his career.

This is his job.

He’ll probably stay there a long time.

"He's working for a small design company."

He works there at the moment.

He might change jobs soon.

Another example: "I go to the gym every week."

That means I do this every week, every month, all year.

Next month, I’ll still be going to the gym.

"I'm going to the gym every week."

That means I’m doing this at the moment.

Next month, you won't see me there!

In all of these sentences, both forms are possible (simple or continuous), but the present

simple shows that these situations are long-lasting, while the present continuous shows that these

situations probably won't continue for a long time.

Okay, part seven - lots of parts!

- use the present simple to tell jokes or stories in conversational English.

Imagine you’re telling a story to your friends.

What verb form would you use?

You should use the past, right?

After all, you’re talking about a story, something which happened in the past.

Shouldn't you use a past verb form?

Hmm...

That’s logical, but it’s not always true.

We often use the present simple to tell stories or jokes, even for things which happened in

the past.

This is only possible in conversational English.

Why do we do this?

Using the present simple instead of the past makes the story sound more direct and exciting.

For example:

So, I see this guy who looks just like Johnny Depp, and I go up to talk to him, but then

I trip and throw my drink all over him!

He gives me this look, like I'm a complete idiot, and just walks away.

Similarly, the present simple is often used in newspaper headlines, even for things which

happened in the past.

For example:

"Prime Minister resigns" "Scientists discover new element"

Next, we also use the present simple in commentary.

What’s commentary?

Commentary means describing something as it’s happening, usually on TV or on the radio.

For example, sports matches have commentators, who describe the match to listeners or viewers.

Commentators use the present simple to talk about shorter actions which are happening

at that moment.

For example:

"He passes, he shoots…

He hits the post!"

"She serves, but Williams makes a great return."

"The prince waits at the altar, while the princess walks slowly up the aisle."

This might seem strange.

Commentary describes something which is happening now, so you might think we should use the

present continuous.

Commentary does use the present continuous, but mostly for longer actions.

For example:

"He’s warming up and getting ready to come on the pitch."

"The players are taking a break while the medic treats her leg."

Normally, we use the present simple for longer actions and the present continuous for shorter

actions.

But in commentary, the opposite is true; the present simple describes shorter actions,

the continuous is used for longer actions.

OK, you’re nearly finished.

We have one more use of the present simple.

What is it?

Let’s look: Part nine: we use the present simple for future

schedules.

So, you can also the present simple to talk about the future.

How?

We use the present simple to talk about things in the future which are on a timetable or

schedule.

This includes things like trains, planes and other public transport; meetings and appointments;

classes and so on, things like this.

For example:

"Class starts at 10.00."

"The plane arrives at 12.20 at night."

"What time does the meeting start?"

In all of these sentences, we are talking about the future, but because we are talking

about timetables or schedules, we use the present simple.

OK, let's review.

Wow!

Lots of information in this lesson.

Don’t worry if you don’t remember it all.

You can always review the video if you need to.

It will still be here.

I hope you can see that the present simple is actually a very flexible and powerful verb

form.

You can use it to express many, many different ideas.

However, if you want to use the present simple in all these ways, you need to understand

the different meanings.

There isn’t one answer to the question “What does the present simple do?”

There are many answers!

That’s the end of the lesson.

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