Simple Present Tense

Simple present tense(1)

  We use the simple present tense to talk about:

(1)   things that are true now,  e.g. My name is Susie.  I am twelve years old.

(2)   how often we do things,  e.g. Susie and Betty go shopping every Saturday morning.  They usually buy a lot of things.

(3)   Things that are always true,  e.g. Birds have two wings.  They fly very high.

We form positive and negative statements in the simple present tense with the verb ‘to be’ (is/am/are)like this.

Subject verb ‘to be’

Positive (+) Negative (-)

I am (‘m) am not (‘m not)

 e.g. I am twelve years old. e.g. I am not twelve years old.

We (You, they) are (‘re) are not (aren’t)

e.g. We are very good students. We are not very good students.

You (singular) You are a handsome boy. You are not  a handsome boy.

You(plural) You/They are my friends. You/They are not my friends.

They

He 

She is (‘s) is not (isn’t)

It

He is the class monitor. He is not the class monitor.

She is my sister.   She is not my sister.

It is a lovely dog.     It is not a lovely dog.

Exercise 1

Fill in these sentences using the correct form of the verb ‘to be’ and the words in the brackets.  Then write the words in the blanks.

1.  I_____________ happy.(not) 

3.  You _____________ Japanese.(not)

5.  They ____________ busy.(not)

7.  Cheung Chau __________ in Kowloon.(not)

9.  We _______ good friends.

11. You ______ the monitor.

13. He ______ 2 years old.(not)

2. He _________ sad.

4. We __________ Chinese.

6. Tigers _________big cats.

8. His name ______ Billy..

10. She ______ my mother.

12. I ______ thirteen years old.

14. They ______ good football players.(not)

Simple present tense(2)

With other verbs, we usually form positive and negative statements in the simple present tense like this

- Subject Subject

I/We/You/You/They He/She/It

Positive (+) I eat ice-cream.     He eats ice-cream

            You eat ice-cream.             She eats ice-cream.

We eat ice-cream. It eats ice-cream.

They eat ice-cream.

Negative(-) I don’t eat ice-cream. He does not eat ice-cream

                                                                        You don’t eat ice-cream.       She does not eat ice-cream

We don’t eat ice-cream.  It does not eat ice-cream

They don’t eat ice-cream.

 Exercise 2

Say these sentences using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.  Then write the words in the blanks.

(1) Susie ______________ shopping in Causeway Bay.(love)

(2) Causeway Bay ____________ very busy.(be)

(3) Betty _______________________ early.(not get up)

(4) I ______________________ fruit.(not like)

(5) School always _____________ at eight o’clock in the morning.(start)

(6) We usually _________________ at school at half past seven.(arrive)

(7) The dog ________________ me. (like)

(8) Henry ___________ a nice school bag.(have)

(9) She ________________ television every night. (not watch)

(10) I ____________________ that dress.(not like)

Simple present tense(3)

With most verbs, we add –s to the verb when it is used with the third person singular.  With other verbs, we change the verb in different ways:

With most verbs  +s

e.g. run →runs

sleep →sleeps

Ending in a consonant + y -       y + ies

e.g. Fly →flies

carry →carries

Go/ Do +es

Ending in ss, x, sh, ch,o +es

Kiss →kisses

Fax →faxes

Wash→washes

switch →switches                                                                                                  

Exercise 3

Say these sentences using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.  Then write the words in the blanks.

1. Sam __________his face every day. (wash)

2. Susie ___________Mum every night. (kiss)

3. Dad often _____________Susie’s books. (carry)

4. Nick ___________ dinner for his family every evening. (cook)

5. He ____________ his hair every morning.(brush)

6. May often ____________ books. (read)

7. Kitty ____________ the dishes every night. (wash)

8. My bird __________ beautifully. (fly)

9. The dog __________eating bones. (like) 

10.My baby sister ___________ every night. (cry)

11.Jenny always ___________ her homework on time. (do)

12.Vincent _____________ Flora. (love)

13.Ron_________ his dog for a walk every afternoon. (take)

14.Mable usually___________ vegetables at the market. (buy)

15.The lion __________ very fast. (run)

Simple present tense(4)

We form positive and negative statements in the simple present tense with the verb ‘to have’ like this:

Positive (+) Negative(-)

I have a good book. I do not have a good book.

You have a good book. You do not have a good book.

You have a good book

We have a good book. We do not have a good book.

They have a good book. They do not have a good book.

He/She/It has a good book. He/She/It does not have a good book.

Exercise 4

Say these sentences using the correct form of the verb ‘to be’ or ‘to have’ and the word in brackets.  Then write the words in the blanks.

1. He ___________not _____ any brothers.  (have) 

2. Betty _____________ one sister. (have)

3. Yuki ______not______ a very nice dress. (have)

4. The cat ____________ a very good place to live at. (have)

5. They ___________not ______  a very big house. ( have) 

6. We _______________ a very kind class teacher.

7. Peter and Jason ____________ a powerful computer.

8. I __________ 5 members in my family.

9. She __________not _____ long hair.

10.He ___________ white teeth.

11.Sally ___________ 6 members in her family. She _____________ 3 sisters but she __________not _____any brothers. Sally __________ short hair bur all her sisters ___________ long and straight hair. Sally and her sisters ___________ a pet cat called Dolly.

Simple present tense (Questions 1)

With the verb ‘to be’, we use ‘Am’/‘Are’/‘Is’ to ask a question in the simple present tense. The answer is always ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Exercise 1

Say these questions and answers using the correct form of the verb ‘to be’.  Then write the words in the blanks.

1. ___________ he early? Yes, he is.

2. ___________ I late?    No, you aren’t.

3. ___________ you sick?     No, I’m not.

4. ___________ they friends?  Yes, they are.

5. ___________ she at school?  No, she isn’t.

6. ___________ we in the hall?  No, you aren’t/we aren’t.

7. ___________ I in Class 1S?   Yes, you are.

8. ___________she your friend?  Yes, she is.

9. ___________they police?  No, they aren’t.

10.__________we good friends?  Yes, we are.

Simple present tense (Questions 2)

We can also use ‘Do’/‘Does’ to ask a question in the simple present tense with other verbs. The answers is always ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Exercise 2

Say these questions and answers using the correct form of the verb ‘to do’. Then write the words in the blanks.

1. ________ you like English?             Yes, I do/we do.

2. _________Bobby like noodles?          No, he doesn’t.

3. _________ we have a test now?            Yes, you do/we do.

4. __________ they have a test this morning?     No, they don’t.

5. __________ Susie like ice cream?           Yes, she does.

6.___________Tommy walk to school?        Yes, he does.

7.___________you understand?              Yes, I do.

8. ___________I read English books?          No, you don’t.

9. ___________you remember me?            Yes, I do.

10. ___________we have to stay after school?   No, you don’t.

Exercise 1 – Fill in the blanks with the simple present tense form of the verbs given in brackets

1. The Principal ____ to speak to Raj. (want)

2. The Earth ____ around the Sun. (revolve)

3. The baby ___ all day. (cry)

4. The flight ____ at 8 o’clock in the morning. (leave)

5. What ____ so good? (smell)

6. Hema ___ badminton every evening. (play)

7. Tony ___ to guitar lessons every Sunday. (go)

8. If it ___ today, we will get stuck. (rain)

9. The nurse ____ of my grandfather. (take care)

10. There ___ the topper of our school. (come)

11. I ___ up at 7:00 a.m. every day. (get)

12. Amy rarely ___ her room. (leave)

13. Cows ___ us milk. (give)

14. My granny ___ delicious lasagne. (cook)

15. The birds ___ all day long. (chirp)

16. The boys ___ hard to get good grades. (study)

17. The teacher ____ the parents today. (meet)

18. The movie ____ within a few minutes. (start)

19. The fluffy clouds ___ around. (move)

20. The dogs ___ at night. (bark)