How do we make the present simple tense in English?
Present simple of “be”
Positive form
| Full form | 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 |
For example:
- I’m a student.
- It’s sunny today.
- They are at home.
Negative form
Put “not” after the verb.
| Full form | Short forms | |
| I am not | I’m not | – |
| you are not | you’re not | you aren’t |
| he is not | he’s not | he isn’t |
| she is not | she’s not | she isn’t |
| it is not | it’s not | it isn’t |
| we are not | we’re not | we aren’t |
| they are not | they’re not | they aren’t |
For example:
- I’m not a student.
- He’s not at school.
- She isn’t at work.
- We are not happy.
- They aren’t Australian.
Question forms
Invert the subject and the verb, and put a question word (“what”, “who”, etc.) at the beginning for wh- questions.
| Yes/No questions | |
| Am I? | |
| Are you? | |
| Is he? | |
| Is she? | |
| Is it? | |
| Are we? | |
| Are they? | |
| Wh- questions | |
| What Who Where When Why How etc. | am I? |
| are you? | |
| is he? | |
| is she? | |
| is it? | |
| are we? | |
| are they? | |
For example:
- Am I right?
- Is it heavy?
- Are they here already?
- How are you?
- What is it?
- Who is the new teacher?
- Why are they always late?
Present simple of other verbs
Positive form
Use the base form (the infinitive without “to”) and add an -s for “he”, “she” and “it”.
Here are some examples:
| play | work | live |
| I play | I work | I live |
| you play | you work | you live |
| he plays | he works | he lives |
| she plays | she works | she lives |
| it plays | it works | it lives |
| we play | we work | we live |
| they play | they work | they live |
For example:
- I play tennis.
- She works at a hotel.
- We live in a big city.
For some verbs, the spelling changes for “he”, “she” and “it”.
Note these rules:
- If the verb ends in -s, -z, -sh, -ch or -x, add -es to the base form.
For example: pass → passes; buzz → buzzes; brush → brushes; teach → teaches;
fix → fixes - If the verb ends in a consonant + y, remove the “y” and add -ies.
For example: study → studies; try → tries; fly → flies
Note: If the verb ends in a vowel + y, just add -s.
For example: play → plays; buy → buys - The verbs “do”, “go” and “have” are irregular in the present simple:
do → does; go → goes; have → has
Note: The pronunciation also changes significantly for do/does.
For example:
- She always passes her exams.
- The bee buzzes around the flowers. (it buzzes)
- He brushes his teeth before he goes to bed.
- George teaches English. (he teaches)
- It flies across the sky.
- He does yoga every Monday.
- Ethel has two brothers. (she has)
Negative form
Put “do not” or “does not” between the subject and the main verb.
The contraction of “do not” is “don’t” and the contraction of “does not” is “doesn’t”.
Here we will use “play” as the main verb.
| Full form | Short form |
| 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 |
For example:
- I don’t play tennis.
- You don’t know him.
- He does not like garlic.
- It doesn’t rain a lot here in summer.
- We don’t do pilates.Question forms
Put “do” or “does” before the subject and put a question word (what, who, etc.) at the beginning for wh- questions.
| Yes/No questions | |
| Do I play? | |
| Do you play? | |
| Does he play? | |
| Does she play? | |
| Does it play? | |
| Do we play? | |
| Do they play? | |
| Wh- questions | |
| What Who Where When Why How etc. | do I play? |
| do you play? | |
| does he play? | |
| does she play? | |
| does it play? | |
| do we play? | |
| do they play? | |
For example:
- Do you play piano?
- Does he work here?
- How do you make ice cream?
- What does she do? ( = What is her job?)
- Where do they live?
Advanced grammar point
In old-fashioned English, and even in some formal contexts today, “have” is often treated similarly to “be” in present simple negative sentences and questions. You might see these structures in older books.
In other words, for negative sentences, we use “not” without “do” or “does”.
Modern English:
– You don’t have time.
– She doesn’t have a house.
Old-fashioned English:
– You haven’t time.
– She hasn’t a house.
Note: “You have not time” and “She has not a house” are also correct, but they are very rare.
For questions, we simply invert the subject and the verb.
Modern English:
– Do you have time?
– Does she have a house?
Old-fashioned English:
– Have you time?
– Has she a house?