The tense

Hi everybody! I'm The Present Simple Girl I like habits and routines. I always do the same things and at the same time. For example, I always drink two glasses of milk in the morning and I usually arrive at school at twenty five past eight . I often wear jeans and T-shirts. I love pop music. I also love animals and plants. I have a beautiful garden.

I live with my parents and my brother, The Present Continuous Guy. He is very different from me. He never arrives on time for lunch. He likes new clothes and fashion, and he doesn't listen to pop music. He plays hard rock in a group called "Metal Bananas" . We are in an English club called The Happy Verby Gang. We go to the club on Saturdays.

1.The simple present tense

The simple present tense is used to discuss permanant situations and the frequency of events.

To have Short form Other Verbs (to work)

I have I've I work

he has he's He works

she has she's She works

it has it's It works

you have you've you work

we have we've we work

they have they've they work

Statements

+ Statements

- Questions Short answer

+ Short answer

-

I work. I don't work. Do I work? Yes, I do. No, I don't.

He works. He doesn't work. Does he work? Yes, he does. No, he doesn't.

She works. She doesn't work. Does she work? Yes, she does. No, she doesn't.

It works. It doesn't work. Does it work? Yes, it does. No, it doesn't.

You work. You don't work. Do you work? Yes you do. No, you don't.

We work. We don't work. Do we work? Yes we do. No, we don't.

They work. They don't work. Do they work? Yes they do. No, they don't.

Regular or permanent situations:

When something happens regularly or is a permanent situation we usually use the simple present tense. When using the simple present the verb (with the exception of the auxiliary verbs) remains in the dictionary form (verb + s with he/she/it).

Simple Present Timeline

For example:

Q) "Where do you live?" A) "I live in Germany."

Q) "Where does he live?" A) "He lives in Germany."

Q) "What do you do?" A) "I'm a teacher."

Q) "What does he do?" A) "He's a teacher."

Frequency

The simple present tense is also used to show how often something happens with adverbs of frequency - always, usually, often, sometimes, occasionally, seldom, rarely, never, etc.... And when discussing daily, weekly, monthly etc. routines.

For example:

"I always get up at 6.00."

"I never drink coffee before 12.00."

"I work on my website every day."

"Every Monday and Thursday I go to the gym."

We also use the simple present to ask for and give instructions or to discuss a series of actions.

For example:

Q) How do I make pancakes?" A) Well, first you take 4 eggs and crack them into a bowl, then you weigh out 4 oz. of flour and sieve it into the eggs. etc. The simple present tense can also be used to discuss future events.

2.Present Continuous

~When we talk about events that are actually happening now, we use the present continuous tense.

Statements

+ Statements

- Questions Short answer

+ Short answer

-

I'm working. I'm not working. Am I working? Yes, I am. No, I'm not.

He's working. He isn't working. Is he working? Yes, he is. No, he isn't.

She's working. She isn't working. Is she working? Yes, she is. No, she isn't.

It's working. It isn't working. Is it working? Yes, it is. No, it isn't.

You're working. You aren'tt working. Are you working? Yes you are. No, you aren't.

We're working. We aren't working. Are we working? Yes we are. No, we aren't.

They're working. They aren't working. Are they working? Yes they are. No, they aren't.

Timeline:

For example:

Q) "What are you doing?" A) "I'm building a website."

We also use the present continuous tense to talk about things that are happening around now but are temporary.

For example:

Q) "What are you doing these days?" A) "Unfortunately I'm working a lot."

It is also used to describe trends