Present Simple

Examples

I do karate three days a week.
How often do you brush your teeth?
Luke doesn’t like tennis.
Planets orbit their sun, but satellites orbit their planet.
We play football on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Uses of the Present Simple

We use the Present Simple for the following:

Routines:
- I have a shower every day.
Feelings, opinions, and thoughts in the present:
- Susie thinks that Math is difficult.
Likes and dislikes in the present:
- John likes football.
General facts:
- Extremadura is in Spain.
Possession in the present:
- They’ve got a really nice house.
“Timetable Future”:
- The exam is next Wednesday.

Present Simple: Form

How to Make Sentences in Present Simple

Remember the basic sentence structure in English:

→ Affirmative: Subject + Verb + Rest.

→ Negation: Subject + Auxiliary + not + “Infinitive” + Rest.

→ Questions:

Non-Subject: (WH) + Auxiliary + Subject + “Infinitive” + Rest?
Subject: WH + Verb + Rest?

Remember: the verb BE is self-sufficient: it doesn’t require DO.

→ BE (Primary Verb)

In Simple time forms, the Verb doesn’t contain an auxiliary -that’s why we call them “Simple”. So, when we want to make a question or negation we need to insert an auxiliary. For this purpose, we use DO.

→ DO (Primary Verb)