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Present simple

You will learn to:

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  • Use verbs to describe a frequent or true action. 

    • I wake-up at 9:00am.​

    • They go to bed.

    • Cows eat grass.

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  • Use 'time adverbials' to add detail.

    • At 6:00am...

    • At 1:00pm...

 

  • Use 'frequency adverbials' to add detail.

    • Every Tuesday

    • Every weekend

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+TIME CHUNK

+FREQUENCY CHUNK

We are going to construct sentences in the present tense. We will start by learning the most important verbs. 

The present simple is used to describe something:

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  • that is true now

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I am tall.

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My name is Tony.

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She is 29-years-old

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I live in Paris.

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  • which happens with a regularity

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Every day I wake-up at 6:00am.

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She always gets-up at 6:30am.

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They sometimes go to bed at 10:00pm

 

NOTE: Always and sometimes are modal verbs and used to describe frequency 

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  • which is always true 

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Cows eat grass

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Boats go on the water

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Babies drink milk.

Present simple - Positive

To form a sentence in the present simple use the following structure:

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Subject + present tense form

A simple sentence is:

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Jane wakes-up.

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This does not tell us much. We can add information (when):

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Jane wakes-up at 6:00am.

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and more information (frequency):

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Every day Jane wakes-up at 6:00am

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and now our sentence has much more detail.

Vocabulary - Frequency
Vocabulary - Time

Present Simple Examples

Adverbial of frequency

Every Monday

I

Time adverbial adverbial of time

get-up

at 6:00am.

Every Monday I get-up at 6:00am.

Adverbial of frequency
Time adverbial adverbial of time

Every Friday

Jane

goes to bed

at 12:00am.

Every Friday Jane goes to bed at 12:00am.

Present Simple Exercises

Adverbial of frequency
Answer

Every weekday

Billy

Time adverbial adverbial of time

wakes-up

Answer

at 7:00am.

Answer

Every weekday Billy wakes-up at 7:00am.

Adverbial of frequency
Answer

Every day

Kate

Time adverbial adverbial of time

gets-up

Answer

at 8:00am.

Answer

Every day Kate gets-up at 8:00am.

Adverbial of frequency
Time adverbial adverbial of time
Answer

Every weekend

Jane

goes to bed

Answer

at 10:00pm.

Answer

Every weekend Jane goes to bed at 10:00pm.

Adverbial of frequency
Time adverbial adverbial of time
Answer

Every Friday

I

go to bed

Answer

at midnight.

Answer

Every Friday I go to bed at midnight.

Present Simple Examples - Negative

To form a sentence in the present simple negative use the following structure:

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Subject + do / does not + present tense form

A simple sentence is:

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Jane does not wake-up.

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This does not tell us when or what time this is. We can include one:

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Jane does not wake-up at 6:00am.

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Or both:

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Every Tuesday Jane does not wake-up at 6:00am

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and now our sentence has much more detail.

Present Simple Exercises - Negative

He lives in

New York

They live in

Portland

She lives in

France

They live in

Africa

What are the subjects for each picture? 

Answer

He

Answer

They

Answer

She

Answer

Elephants

Answer

They

Positive

Negative

He lives in

Subject + verb + in + place

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He lives in New York.

Subject + do / does notverb + in + place

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He does not live in London.

They live in

Subject + verb + in + place

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They live in Portland.

Subject + do / does notverb + in + place

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They do not live in Los Angeles.

She lives in
Answer

She lives in France.

Answer

She does not live in Italy.

They live in
Answer

They live in Africa.

Answer

They do not live in America.

Present simple - Questions (?)

To form simple questions asking about verbs you need to use the verb 'do / does'.

Subject
'Do' verb
I
Do
he
Does
she
Does
it
Does
they
Do
Do
we
you
Do

The question form is:

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Do / Does + subject + present tense form...

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Do they get-up...

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Does he live...

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Do you go to bed...

Present Simple Exercises

The question form is:

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Do / Does + subject + present tense form...

Do you live in

Do you live in France?

Yes, I do.

She lives in

Do you live in London?

No, I don't. I live in New York.

Do you live in
Businessman in a Car

Yes, we do.

Smiling Girl

Do you live in Portland?

Do you get-up at 9:00am every Sunday?