Present Simple – Structure

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.

Some notes on short forms:
1. We often contract is with nouns and other words in speaking and informal writing: Jane’s, nobody’s, there’s, that’s, etc.
2. We often contract is with question words in speaking and writing: What’s her name? Where’s he from?
BUT we do not do this in speaking or writing if the last word is a pronoun: What’s it? Where’s she?
3. We often contract are with nouns and other words in speaking, but not in writing: the students’re, there’re, those’re, etc.
4. We do not usually contract verbs in writing if we have a compound subject: Jane and I’re, Jane and Ben’re, etc.

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?

Short answers

Positive	Negative
Yes, I am.	No, I‘m not.	–
Yes, you are.	No, you’re not.	No, you aren’t.
Yes, he is.	No, he’s not.	No, he isn’t.
Yes, she is.	No, she’s not.	No, she isn’t.
Yes, it is.	No, it’s not.	No, it isn’t.
Yes, we are.	No, we’re not.	No, we aren’t.
Yes, they are.	No, they’re not.	No, they aren’t.

Notes:
1. We do not use short forms in positive short answers.
2. We sometimes use full forms in negative short answers (e.g. No, I am not.), but this is rare and mainly used in very formal contexts or for emphasis.

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:

1. 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
   
   
2. 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
   
   
3. 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.
   (do: /duː/; does: /dʌz/)
   

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?

Short answers

Positive	Negative
Yes, I do.	No, I don’t.
Yes, you do.	No, you don’t.
Yes, he does.	No, he doesn’t.
Yes, she does.	No, she doesn’t.
Yes, it does.	No, it doesn’t.
Yes, we do.	No, we don’t.
Yes, they do.	No, they don’t.

Note: We sometimes use full forms in negative short answers (e.g. No, I do not.), but this is rare and mainly used in very formal contexts or for emphasis.

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?

Present Simple – Use →

Kahoot Quiz – Present Simple (be)

Kahoot Quiz – Present Simple

Present Simple Exercises – Printable PDF Worksheets

• Present Simple – Be – Positive
• Present Simple – Be – Negative
• Present Simple – Be – Questions
• Present Simple – Be – Mixed
• Present Simple – Positive
• Present Simple – Negative
• Present Simple – Questions
• Present Simple – Mixed
• Present Simple – 3rd Person Singular – Positive
• Present Simple or Present Continuous?