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 Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present 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 simple present tense for situations that are not general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the simple present 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.

Verb

What is a Verb?

The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verbor compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.

In each of the following sentences, the verb or compound verb is highlighted:

Dracula bites his victims on the neck.

The verb "bites" describes the action Dracula takes.

In early October, Giselle will plant twenty tulip bulbs.

Here the compound verb "will plant" describes an action that will take place in the future.

My first teacher was Miss Crawford, but I remember the janitor Mr. Weatherbee more vividly.

In this sentence, the verb "was" (the simple past tense of "is") identifies a particular person and the verb "remembered" describes a mental action.

Karl Creelman bicycled around the world in 1899, but his diaries and his bicycle were destroyed.

In this sentence, the compound verb "were destroyed" describes an action which took place in the past.

Present Participle

 1. Participles are formed from verbs. English has two types participles: the Present Participle and the Past Participle. The Present Participle of the verb is formed by adding the suffix '-ing' to the base form of the verb: base form + '-ing'. We use the Present Participlealong with a form of the verb 'to be' to create continuous (progressive) tenses.

  2. Spelling rules for the formation of the Present Participle.

The general rule is: base form of the verb + '-ing': work - working                  read - reading go - going                          listen - listening meet - meeting                   sleep - sleeping enjoy - enjoying                 ski - skiing grow - growing                  fix - fixing

  If a one syllable verb ends in consonant + vowel + consonant double the final consonant and add '-ing':

run - running                       beg - begging

sit - sitting                           jog - jogging

  If a verb has more than one syllable and ends in consonant + vowel + consonant, we double the final consonant only if the final syllable is stressed and add '-ing':

occur - occurring                begin - beginning

admit - admitting                 refer - referring

When a verb ends in '-ic' we add '-k' and then '-ing': picnic - picnicking               panic - panicking  When a verb ends in '-l' the '-l' is doubled and '-ing' is added (in British English): travel - travelling                cancel - cancelling  When a verb ends in silent '-e', the silent '-e' is dropped and '-ing' is added: close - closing                     move - moving live - living                           have - having

  When a verb ends in an '-e' which is not silent, the final '-e' is not dropped before the ending '-ing' is added:

be - being                             see - seeing

  When a verb ends in '-ie', the '-ie' is changed to '-y' before the ending '-ing' is added:

die - dying                            lie - lying


 3. The Present Participal can be also used as an ajective in front of a noun: a running boy, a crying baby, a dancing lady, etc.

Present Continuous Tense

 1. How to form the Present Continuous Tense?

   The Present Continuous is made with the present form of the verb "to be" (I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you are, they are) + the '-ing' form of the main verb. The '-ing' form of the verb is called the Present Participle.

Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense

Affirmative (Positive) Form Negative Form Question Form  I am  reading  I  am not  reading  Am  I  reading?  You are  reading  You  are not  reading  Are  you  reading?  He is  reading  He  is not  reading  Is  he  reading?  She is  reading  She  is not  reading  Is  she  reading?  It is  reading  It  is not  reading  Is  it  reading?  We are  reading  We  are not  reading  Are  we  reading?  You are  reading  You  are not  reading  Are  you  reading?  They are  reading  They  are not  reading  Are  they  reading? Contracted forms: I am = I'm                 he/she/it is = he's/she's/it's                     you are = you're                      I am not  = I'm not       he/she/it is not = he isn't/she isn't/it isn't        you are not  = you aren't              we are = we're                         they are = they're                                           we are not  = we aren't             they are not = they aren't                     Examples:   1. What are you doing?                             3. He is reading a newspaper.            2. I'm having a bath.                                 4. Are they working?    2. Using the Present Continuous Tense    We most often use the Present Continuous when we talk about something which is happening at the time of speaking (now, at the moment): Examples:  Pamela is sleeping in the bedroom. 1. The telephone is ringing! 2. They are doing their homework. 3. I'm waiting for my girlfriend in front of the cinema.    Present Continuous is also used when we talk about something which is happening at present, but not necessarily at the moment of speaking: Examples:  1. I'm reading an interesting book. 2. Tom is looking for a new job. 3. We are studying English and Spanish.    We can use the Present Continuous when we talk about temporary actions taking place only for a period of time (today, this week, this semester, this year): Examples:  1. My husband is working hard today. 2. They are spending this week in Paris. 3. She is teaching English this semester. 4. We are staying at the Bristol Hotel tonight. 5. I'm living with my parents at the moment but soon I'll buy my own house.    Present Continuous is also used to express current trends: Examples:  1. Fuel prices are rising constantly because of strong demand. 2. On-line shopping is growing rapidly nowdays.    We can use the Present Continuous when we talk about repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (always, constantly): Examples:  1. He is always complaining from his colleagues. 2. My son is always getting into trouble in school.    Sometimes we use the Present Continuous to describe a planned action in the near future: Examples:  1. I'm leaving for Vienna tomorrow morning. 2. We are having lunch at 12.30 o'clock. See also: Present Participle /en/