







In English we use the present simple tense to talk about facts or things that are always true, as well as things in general. Present simple is also used to talk about a repeated action such as a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens.
In English we use 'do' and 'does' as auxiliary verbs in negatives and questions and we often use the present simple with adverbs of frequency such as sometimes, always, often, never, usually, rarely, and hardly ever.
Notes for use of present simple :
In the third person, ‘s’ is added to the verb form. For example;
work --> works
run --> runs
live --> lives
For verbs that end in 'o', 'sh', 'ch', 's' and 'x', we add 'es' to the verb form. For example;
go --> goes
wish --> wishes
watch --> watches
kiss --> kisses
fax --> faxes
For verbs that end in a consonant + 'y', we change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'. For example;
try --> tries
study --> studies
The table below shows the different forms of present simple :
Example Verb : Work | I / You / We / They | He / She / It |
| Positive | ... work. | ... works. |
| Negative | ... don't work. | ... doesn't work. |
Questions | Do ... work? | Does ... work? |
| Short answers | Yes, ... do. / No, ... don't. | Yes, ... does. / No, ... doesn't. |
For the verb 'to be' we use 'am', 'is', 'are' in the present simple. No auxiliary verbs are used in negative sentences and questions.
Verb: Be | I | You / We / They | He / She / It |
| Positive | I'm ... | ... 're ... | ... 's ... |
| Negative | I'm not ... | ... aren't ... | ... isn't ... |
| Questions | Am I ... ? | Are ... ...? | Is ... ...? |
| Short answers | Yes, I am. / No, I'm not. | Yes, ... are. / No, ... aren't. | Yes, ... is. / No, ... isn't. |
Present Simple Example Sentences :
Positive Examples of Present Simple :
Negative Examples of Present Simple :
Question Examples of Present Simple :
| Present simple example sentences | |
|---|---|
| Is that you, Mike? | Sei tu, Mike? |
| How are things going, is everything ok? | Come vanno le cose, tutto bene? |
| How is there four of us? | Com’è che siamo in quattro? |
| Taking Bear out usually takes me an hour. | Per portare fuori Bear di solito mi ci vuole un'ora. |
| I'm on my way to Brighton, nearly there! | Sto andando a Brighton, sono quasi arrivato! |
| It's all about my lovely little cat, Pogo. | Si tratta del mio adorabile gattino, Pogo! |
| Absolutely not, while you are working you smoke like a chimney. | Assolutamente no, mentre lavori fumi come una ciminiera. |
| But Tesco is bigger, it has more variety of products. | Ma Tesco è più grande, c’è più varietà di prodotti. |
| I hope he gets well soon. | Spero che possa riprendersi presto. |
| Is there a knife? | C’è un coltello? |
| Yes, that's a good idea. | Sì, è una buona idea. |
| No worries, everybody uses my stuff all the time. | Non preoccuparti, tutti quanti usano la mia roba continuamente. |
| Yeah, you are right, it's more useful when you have less things. | Già, hai ragione, è più utile quando hai meno cose. |
| I'm really sorry, what kind of sickness is it? | Mi spiace molto, che tipo di malattia è? |
| Yeah, I think killing mosquitoes is fair. | Sì, credo che uccidere le zanzare vada bene. |
| Yeah, it's open here already... | Sì, è già qui aperta… |
| It's almost 09:30. | Sono quasi le 9:30. |
| But that's true, some Chows are a bit aggressive. | Ma è vero, alcuni Chow sono un po’ aggressivi. |
| Right! Who wants chardonnay, then? | Bene! Chi vuole lo Chardonnay allora? |
| No, but it's not good for him to take the stairs up and down everyday. | No, ma non gli fa bene fare le scale su e giù tutti i giorni. |