Helping English

Simple Present Tense

Uses

• To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes: ...
• To give instructions or directions: ...
• To express fixed arrangements, present or future: ...
• To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:

Examples:

• He leaves for work early. (routine)
• We always walk to school. (routine)
• If you heat ice, it becomes water. ( general truth)
• The plain leaves at 4:30 p.m and arrives at 7:30 p.m. (express future time)

Formula:

   Subject (noun/pronoun) + present (with -s/es * for singular subjects) + object

    Kuwait                                   produces                                                            oil.

Forming Questions

Do/Does + Subject + present verb (without -s) + object

Does           Kuwait     export                                      oil?

Do               countries (plural subject) buy          Kuwait oil?

W/H Questions

W/H + do/does + subject + verb (without -s) + object?

Where does Kuwait               store                         oil?       

*verbs ending on x, o, sh, ch, ss, take es when used for singular subjects

Examples:  miss – go – finish – catch – fix – do  

Proverbs

Most proverbs are written in present tense.

1. Greed is a curse.
2. Man is known by the company he keeps.
3. Two and two make four.

Study Examples

1. Doctors encourage coffee drinking.
2. Do you smoke?
3. As a freelancer he works for many companies.
4. In the play, Macbeth, the main character kills the king.
5. Where do you go on weekend?
6. When does the store open?
7. Pop music bothers him.

Write the correct verb form to complete the present tense below. Mind the subject!

1. This company ______________(sell) computers.
2. On weekdays we ____________(wake) up at 5:00 a.m.
3. Many people ______________ (not use) the public transport.
4. All that ________________(glitter) is not gold.
5. He ______________(not eat) breakfast.
6. The earth _______________(revolve) around the sun.
7. San Francisco ________________(lie) southwest of Sacramento.
8. If you _____________(work) regularly, you will succeed.

Answer Key: 1 sells – 2 wake – 3 do not use – 4 glitters – 5 does not eat – 6 revolves – 7 lies – 8 work