Level: beginner
The present tense is the base form of the verb:
I work in London.
But with the third person singular (she/he/it), we add an –s:
She works in London.
Present simple questions
Look at these questions:
Do you play the piano?
Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?
We use do and does to make questions with the present simple. We use does for the third person singular (she/he/it) and do for the others.
We use do and does with question words like where, what and when:
Where do Angela and Rita live?
What does Angela do?
When does Rita usually get up?
But questions with who often don't use do or does:
Who lives in London?
Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?
Here are some useful questions. Try to remember them:
Where do you come from? Do you come from …? Where do you live? Do you live in ...? |
What work do you do? Do you like …? Do you know …? |
- Present simple questions 1
- Present simple questions 2
- Present simple questions 3
- Present simple questions 4
Present simple negatives
Look at these sentences:
I like tennis but I don't like football. (don't = do not)
I don't live in London now.
I don't play the piano but I play the guitar.
They don't work at the weekend.
John doesn't live in Manchester. (doesn't = does not)
Angela doesn't drive to work. She goes by bus.
We use do and does to make negatives with the present simple. We use doesn't for the third person singular (she/he/it) and don't for the others.
- Present simple negatives 1
- Present simple negatives 2
Present simple and present time
We use the present simple to talk about:
- something that is true in the present:
I'm nineteen years old.
I'm a student.
He lives in London.
- something that happens regularly in the present:
I play football every weekend.
- something that is always true:
The human body contains 206 bones.
Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.
We often use adverbs of frequency like sometimes, always and never with the present simple:
I sometimes go to the cinema.
She never plays football.
Here are some useful sentences. Complete them so that they are true for you and try to remember them:
My name is … . I'm … years old. I come from … . I live in … . |
I'm a(n) … . I … at the weekend. I often … . I never … . |
Complete these sentences so that they are true for a friend and try to remember them:
Her/His name is … . She's/He's … years old. She/He comes from … . She/He lives in … . |
She's/He's a(n) … . She/He … at the weekend. She/He often … . She/He never … . |
- Present simple 1
- Present simple 2
- Present simple 3
- Present simple 4
- Present simple 5
- Present simple 6
- Present simple 7
Level: intermediate
Present simple and future time
We also use the present simple to talk about:
- something that is fixed in the future:
The school term starts next week.
The train leaves at 19.45 this evening.
We fly to Paris next week.
- something in the future after time words like when, after and before and after if and unless:
I'll talk to John when I see him.
You must finish your work before you go home.
If it rains we'll get wet.
He won't come unless you ask him.
- Present simple 8
Level: advanced
We sometimes use the present simple to talk about the past when we are:
- telling a story:
I was walking down the street the other day when suddenly this man comes up to me and tells me he has lost his wallet and asks me to lend him some money. Well, he looks a bit dangerous so I'm not sure what to do and while we are standing there …
- summarising a book, film or play:
Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts School. He has two close friends, Hermione and …
Shakespeare's Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark. One night he sees his father's ghost. The ghost tells him he has been murdered …
Hello SahilK,
Both 'that' and 'which' can be used here. These are examples of relative pronouns which are used in relative clauses. You can use 'that' to refer to people and things. You can use 'which' to refer only to things ('who' is used to refer to people). 'Which' can be used in defining and non-defining relative clauses while 'that' can only be used in defining relative clauses.
You can read more about relative pronouns and relative clauses on these pages:
Relative pronouns and relative clauses
Defining relative clauses
Non-defining relative clauses
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello khmsayush,
The idea here is that the people pay the bills on a fixed schedule. Sometimes they are late, but it implies they pay each time they need to. It's not true in the present, because it's not really speaking about the present -- it's speaking about the schedule. The payment is something that happens regularly, i.e. again and again.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello francini
Thanks for your comment. I just wanted to note that 'do' isn't an adverb here, though it does have a kind of adverbial function in that it modifies the main verb -- as you say, it is not expressing an action here.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team