Simple Present Tense II

Simple Present Tense

English Grammar Rules

The simple present tense in English is used to describe an action that is regular, true or normal.
We use the present tense:
1. For repeated or regular actions in the present time period.

• I take the train to the office.
• The train to Berlin leaves every hour.
• John sleeps eight hours every night during the week.

2. For facts.

• The President of The USA lives in The White House.
• A dog has four legs.
• We come from Switzerland.

3. For habits.

• I get up early every day.
• Carol brushes her teeth twice a day.
• They travel to their country house every weekend.

4. For things that are always / generally true.

• It rains a lot in winter.
• The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace.
• They speak English at work.

Verb Conjugation & Spelling

We form the present tense using the base form of the infinitive (without the TO).
In general, in the third person we add 'S' in the third person.

Subject	Verb	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	speak / learn	English at home
he / she / it	speaks / learns	English at home

The spelling for the verb in the third person differs depending on the ending of that verb:
1. For verbs that end in -O, -CH, -SH, -SS, -X, or -Z we add -ES in the third person.

• go – goes
• catch – catches
• wash – washes
• kiss – kisses
• fix – fixes
• buzz – buzzes

2. For verbs that end in a consonant + Y, we remove the Y and add -IES.

• marry – marries
• study – studies
• carry – carries
• worry – worries

NOTE: For verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we just add -S.

• play – plays
• enjoy – enjoys
• say – says

Negative Sentences in the Simple Present Tense

To make a negative sentence in English we normally use Don't or Doesn't with all verbs EXCEPT To Be and Modal verbs (can, might, should etc.).

• Affirmative: You speak French.
  Negative: You don't speak French.

You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.

• Affirmative: He speaks German.
  Negative: He doesn't speak German.

When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the negative sentence. We will see the reason why below.

Negative Contractions

Don't = Do not
Doesn't = Does not
I don't like meat = I do not like meat.
There is no difference in meaning though we normally use contractions in spoken English.

Word Order of Negative Sentences

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

Subject	don't/doesn't	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they	don't	have / buy eat / like etc.	cereal for breakfast
he / she / it	doesn't

* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Negative Sentences with Don't and Doesn't:

• You don't speak Arabic.
• John doesn't speak Italian.
• We don't have time for a rest.
• It doesn't move.
• They don't want to go to the party.
• She doesn't like fish.

Questions in the Simple Present Tense

To make a question in English we normally use Do or Does. It has no translation in Spanish though it is essential to show we are making a question. It is normally put at the beginning of the question.

• Affirmative: You speak English.
  Question: Do you speak English?

You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.

• Affirmative: He speaks French.
  Question: Does he speak French?

When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.
We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must, might, should etc.)

Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

Do/Does	Subject	Verb*	The Rest of the sentence
Do	I / you / we / they	have / need want etc.	a new bike?
Does	he / she / it

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
Examples of Questions with Do and Does:

• Do you need a dictionary?
• Does Mary need a dictionary?
• Do we have a meeting now?
• Does it rain a lot in winter?
• Do they want to go to the party?
• Does he like pizza?

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions	Short Answer (Affirmative)	Short Answer (Negative)
Do you like chocolate?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Do I need a pencil?	Yes, you do.	No, you don't.
Do you both like chocolate?	Yes, we do.	No, we don't.
Do they like chocolate?	Yes, they do.	No, they don't.
Does he like chocolate?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she like chocolate?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it have four wheels?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't.

However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

The Weather

 

What's the weather like in Venezuela?

How many seasons are there in Venezuela?
 
Are there four seasons in Venezuela? 


 


 


 

Adverbs of Frequency

Exercises

Simple Present and Adverbs of Frequency 

How are you? Adjectives

Pharrel Williams: "Happy" 


How are you today?
How do you feel?

 Describe yourself. How is your personality?

Remember this!

We use Verb "To Be" to describe and define people.

I am Juan Valdés

        a journalist (We ALWAYS use article A/An for occupations)

        a soccer player

        23 years old

        single

        tall

        Mexican

        from Acapulco

        thin

        shy

        responsible

        Catholic

         



What is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that modifies nouns or pronoun by describing, identifying or quantifying words. An adjective usually goes before the noun or pronoun it describes. 

Example: The blue sky
                 The red moon
                 The noisy street
                 The crowded concert
                 The dirty beach


Adjectives go after verb To Be

Example:

                My best friend is very clumsy
                My English class is fun
                Venezuela is beautiful 
                London is cool.     

Articles A/An/The can be considered adjectives.

An adjective can be modified by an adverb or a clause/phrase functioning as an adverb. 






Opposites attract!

        





Katy Perry "Hot n Cold"
How many opposites do you identify here?

Simple Present Tense

The Simple Present tense is used for activities we usually do as a habit.

 

 Practice

 http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-simple-present.php#.U1ViAFGYNpQ

http://www.englishmaven.org/HP6/Present%20Tense%20Exercise%209.htm

Short Quiz

Exercises in Simple Present Tense

PDF Printable Exercises

More exercises  

Happy Easter!

The Family

Sometimes we feel our family is not very normal at all...

 

This session's contens:

- Vocabulary of the family.

- Possessive Adjectives

- Adjectives (opposites and similars).

- Saxon Genitive

- Verb "To have" and introduction to Simple Present Tense.

  This exercise will be evaluated next Monday Apr 21st.

Personal Pronoun      Possessive Adjectives

I                                   My
You                              Your
He                                His
She                              Her
It                                  Its
We                               Our
You                              Your
They                            Their

 Verb "To have" in affirmative Simple Present tense

I            have
You       have
He
She       has
It
We        have
You       have


  Verb "To have" in negative Simple Present tense


I       don't     have    any           car
You  don't     have     any           apartment
He
She  doesn't  have    any           brothers or sisters
It
We   don't     have    any           money
You               have    any           time

Saxon Genitive
http://hello-girlsandboys.blogspot.com/search/label/GENITIVO%20SAJ%C3%93N

My dad's car is blue

July's boyfriend is tall

Olive's daughter is 4 years old

Sam is Vicky's brother

Saxon Genitive is a possessive form. We use it with apostrophe 's. We only use saxon genitive with persons (people). We don't use Saxon Genitives with objects or animals. Only people

The house's  yard (INCORRECT).

In the case of plurals and words that end with letter s, we put the apostrophe at the end:

Carlos' wife is nice.

The kids' toys are on the floor.

Mary and Joseph are Jesus' parents

With more than one subject:

Matt and Jane's children are 5 and 7 years old
Paul and Lisa's home is in New Jersey  

Vocabulary of the family

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/family

More resources about the family

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/07/vocabulary-grandmas-sister-family-tree.html  

Exercise:

To do this exercise you have to imagine a family meal and make a list with the participants in it. Describe the members of this family. Use adjectives, colors, prepositions, age, nationalities, occupations. Use the verb "to have" and saxon genitives if necessary.

Example:

This is Susy's family reunion*. Susy's family is big and noisy. Susy is a model. She's blond and thn. She's 19 years old. She's from New York. She's a Newyorker. Susy is young and quiet. Susy has two brothers and one sister. She's the middle-child. Susy's father is a clerk. He's 48 years old. He's Irish. He's from Ireland. He's bossy and angry. Susy's mom is sweet.
(...)



*Reunion : an act of getting people together again after they have been apart : an act of reuniting

: an organized gathering of people who have not been together for a long time

 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reunion

What adjectives can you use to define these family members? Be creative!

Prepositions In/ On /at

Practice Exercises

In this post, I'll share some links to practice grammar rules for this term:

You can print these pdf guides or practice on your own



Verb To Be in Simple Present tense



http://www.englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/To_Be_Entire_Unit.pdf


Verb To Be

http://hello-girlsandboys.blogspot.com/search/label/TO%20BE



There is/ There Are


http://www.grammar.cl/exercises/there-is-there-are.pdf

Places

Occupations

Dream Jobs

Where are you from?

Learn Geography with Animaniacs!

Greetings and Farewells

 The Beatles Hello, Goodbye
The Sound of Music So long, Farewell

What Time is It?

Now, practice!

It's time to learn the time!!

No time to say goodbye!!