TENSES - SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
A verb that refers to present time is called Present tense.
AN OVERVIEW
All sentences are formed as
- POSITIVE FORM
- NEGATIVE FORM
- QUESTION FORM
for all the tenses.
The present tense consists of
- Simple present tense
- Present continuous tense
- Present perfect tense
- Present perfect continuous tense
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
DEFINITION
The actions or occurrences happening RIGHT NOW is called simple present tense.
How to form a simple present tense sentence?
POSITIVE FORM – Subject + verb.
– if the subject is singular, add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the verb(action word) in the sentence.
– if the subject is plural, do not add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the verb(action word).
E.g., He laughs.
They laugh.
NEGATIVE FORM – Subject + does not/do not + verb.
– if the subject is singular, add does not/doesn’t to the verb(action word) in the sentence.
– if the subject is plural, add do not/don’t to the verb(action word).
E.g., He doesn’t laugh.
They don’t laugh.
The verb doesn’t change here.
QUESTION FORM – Does/do + Subject + verb.
– if the subject is singular, start the question as Does.
– if the subject is plural, start the question as Do.
E.g., Does he laugh?
Do they laugh?
The Simple present tense is used :
For general truths:
Hard work brings success.
The sun sets in the west.
For habitual actions:
I go to school everyday.
Sam eats at 1 o' clock.
Vivid narrative:
Suddenly the police withdraws action.
To introduce quotations:
Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam says, "If you want to shine like a Sun, first burn like the Sun".
Exclamatory sentences beginning with 'here' and 'there'.
There comes the train.
Here goes the cat.
Express a future event according to a time table.
The last bus is at 9:00 p.m.
The game starts at 1:00 p.m.
In clauses of time and condition, instead of simple future tense.
I will reach before you complete the project.
If it snows, we will get stuck.
Verbs of thinking:
Ex: Believe, think, consider, agree, suppose, imagine, mind, trust, remember.
Verbs of emotion:
Ex: Feel, desire, refuse, want, love, hate, wish, prefer, hope, like, feel.
Verbs of perception:
Ex: Notice, smell, recognize, see, hear.
Verbs of appearing:
Ex: Seem, appear, look.
