The Simple Present and some exercises

The simple present tense

James is a taxi driver. He drives a taxi. But on Sundays he doesn't drive his taxi. He stays at home. The verb be, drive, stay are in the simple present.

The affirmative form of the simple present: I, you, we, they play. He, she, it plays.

Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an "s". For example, "he plays, she sings,it works..." Examples:

Nancy and James speak good German. Nancy works in a restaurant downtown. The children play in the garden every weekend.

The interrogative form of the simple present: Do I, you, we, they

Does he, she, it Examples:

play?

Do you speak good German? Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?

The negative form of the simple present: do not don't does not doesn't play.

I, you, we,they He, she, it

Examples:

No, I don't speak German. No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown

The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present: All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the third person singular (he, she, it) form: Examples:

I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend. My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.

So the rule is: He / she / it + Verb + S There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules: Silent e close = closes note = notes Vowel + y Consonant + y Verbs ending in o Verbs ending in s, z, sh, ch miss = misses buzz = buzzes hatch = hatches finish = finishes teach = teaches

play = plays say = says

study = studies go = goes marry = do = does marries

Examples:

She drives to work every morning. He says he plays football on the weekends

Exception:

The verb to have changes its forms as follows: I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers. I have = he / she / it has

Things to remember about the simple present: 1.In the interrogative forms, we use "do" or "does".

"Do you like the house?" "Does she go to school?"

2; Verbs never take an "s" in the the negative and interrogative forms.

"Does he speak German?" "Do they play soccer?" She doesn't like ice cream.

3. don't is the short form of "do not". You can say either:

I do not speak Italian, or I don't speak Italian.

4.doesn't is the short form of "does not". you can say either:

He does not listen to jazz music, or He doesn't listen to jazz music. Grammar Exercises - Simple Present

Choose the correct form of the following verbs: wake(s) up - open(s) - speak(s) - take(s) - do(es) - cause(s) - live(s) - play(s) - close(s) live(s) 1. Ann 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. hand ball very well.

I never coffee. The swimming pool at 7:00 in the morning. It at 9:00 in the evening. Bad driving many accidents. My parents in a very small flat.

7. The Olympic Games place every four years. 8. They are good students. They always their homework. 9. My students a little English. 10.I always early in the morning. Put the verbs between brackets in the correct form: 1. Jane (not/drink) tea very often. 2. What time (the banks/open) in Britain? 3. Where (John/come) from? 4. It (take) me an hour to get to work. 5. She (not/wake) up early on Sundays. Choose the right verbs to complete the sentences. Sometimes you need the negative: write - turn - eat - tell - rise 1. The earth 2. The sun around the sun. in the east. the truth.

3. Vegetarians meat. 4. A liar is someone who 5. A novelist novels.

Put the verbs between brackets in the correct form.

1. The cinema 2. They 3. We usually 4. How often 5. Courses 6. When 7. She 8. He 9. I

(close) at 7pm. (not/think) you should buy this dress. (take) a taxi to go to work. (you/go) to the swimming pool? (begin) on the third of September. (he/arrive) home in the evenings? (not/live) in Washington, but in New York. (get up) early on Mondays.

(not/believe) in witches. (take) eight minutes to reach the Earth.

10. The Sun's rays