Lesson
“Donna lives and works in London”:
How to Use the Present Simple Tense in English
As students of English, you’ve probably heard about the Present Simple more than any other verb tense, and there’s no wonder why! It is the most used verb tense in English so let’s learn how to use it.
Read this text first and focus on the underlined verbs
“Donna lives and works in London, which is the capital of the U.K. She has a big apartment she shares it with her brother Tom. Donna is an accountant and Tom studies biology at the university. They have breakfast together every day before they leave for work. Donna takes a Spanish class twice a week. They both love London.”
When do I use it?
Use the Present Simple for almost anything that happens all the time -- facts, states, and habits:
1. Facts that are always true:
London is the capital of the U.K.
She has a big apartment.
2. Permanent states:
Donna lives and works in London.
She is an accountant.
3. Repeated habits:
They have breakfast together every day.
Donna studies Spanish twice a week.
What does it look like?
All the verbs above are in the Present Simple. It simply uses the base form of the verb (with no endings, such as “They have”). However, one of the most basic grammar rules in English is that you must add s to a Present Simple verb when the sentence talks about somebody in the third person singular (such as “Donna lives”).
Remember to add s only when the sentence is about one person or thing! This single subject can have a name (Donna or Tom) or referred to by he, she, or it.
The formula to help you remember this is:
| Subject | Verb |
| I, You, We, They (or names of people and things) | Verb |
| He, She, It (or name of one person or thing) | Verbs with s |
Spelling rules for adding s:
1. Add es to verbs ending in s, sh, ch, x, z, o.
Donna watches a lot of movies. (watch)
2. Drop the y in verbs ending in a consonant+ y, and add ies.
Tom studies biology at the university. (study)
3. The verbs “to be” and “to have” have special forms:
| I | am / have |
| You, We, They | are / have |
| He, She, It | is / has |
Common Time Expressions:
EVERY day/week/month/year, once/twice a week, always, often, usually, sometimes, seldom, rarely, never
We hope our article helps you, and don’t forget to add s where it’s needed.
This article was contributed by WhiteSmoke, leader in English writing software
