Present simple tense rules

Grammar Present simple tense rules Present simple use Present simple typical words Present simple reported speech Present simple passive Present simple spelling rules	Exercises Present Simple

Diagram

We use Simple Present Tense when we talk about activities which repeat around the time of speaking.

Forms

Present Simple Tense is formed in the way presented below. Notice that the same verb form is used for all the persons except for the third person singular. For it we have to add endings -es or -s. It is one of the most common mistakes made by learners of English who tend to forget about adding -es or -s in the third person singular. We don't use any contracted forms in affirmative sentences.

	Affirmative sentences
I	I / you write a letter every day.
he / she / ig	He writes a letter every day.
we / you / they	We write a letter every day.

In the case of negative sentences in Present Simple Tense we should remember that the third person singular takes DOES NOT and the other persons take DO NOT. We can use contracted forms for these: DOESN'T and DON'T. The full forms are mainly used in official documents, but in everyday speech only the contracted forms are used.

	Negative sentences	Short forms
I / You	I / You do not write a letter every day.	I don't
he / she / it	He / Shedoes not write a letter every day.	He doesn't
we / you / they	We / You / They do not write a letter every day.	We doesn't

As for questions in Present Simple Tense we bear in mind that we need to use auxiliary verb DOES in the third person singular and in the other persons DO should be used.

	Questions
I / You	Do I / you write a letter every day?
he / she / it	Does he / she write a letter every day?
we / you / they	Do we / you / they write a letter every day?