Simple present tense with 'be'
Simple present tense with 'be'
The verb 'be' is different from the other verbs in this tense. Let's look at 'be' first:
Here's the positive form (positive means a normal sentence, not a negative or a question. This is sometimes called 'affirmative')
| Positive | Positive Short Form |
| I am | I'm |
| you are | you're |
| he is | he's |
| she is | she's |
| it is | it's |
| we are | we're |
| they are | they're |
Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add 'not'.
| Negative | Negative short form |
| I am not | I'm not |
| you are not | you aren't |
| he is not | he isn't |
| she is not | she isn't |
| it is not | it isn't |
| we are not | we aren't |
| they are not | they aren't |
And finally let's talk about the question form of the present simple with 'be'.
Firstly, here's the 'yes / no' question form:
| Yes / No Questions |
| am I ? |
| are you ? |
| is he ? |
| is she ? |
| is it ? |
| are we ? |
| are they ? |
If you'd like to make a 'wh' question, you just put the question word at the front:
| Wh Questions | |
| where | am I ? |
| what | are you ? |
| why | is he ? |
| who | is she ? |
| when | are we ? |
| how | are they ? |
Present simple tense with other verbs
With all other verbs, we make the present simple in the same way.
The positive is really easy. It's just the verb with an extra 's' if the subject is 'he', 'she', or 'it'. Let's take the verb 'play' as an example:
| Positive (of 'play') |
| I play |
| you play |
| he plays |
| she plays |
| it plays |
| we play |
| they play |
- Don't forget the 's'! Even really advanced students do this!
- For a few verbs, there is a spelling change before the 's'. For example, 'study' becomes 'studies'
- .
- There are also few verbs which are irregular in the present simple:
'have' becomes 'has'
- 'do' becomes 'does'
- 'go' becomes 'goes'
To make the negative form, you need to use 'do not' (don't) or ' does not' (doesn't).
| Negative (of 'play') | |
| I do not play | I don't play |
| you do not play | you don't play |
| he does not play | he doesn't play |
| she does not play | she doesn't play |
| it does not play | it doesn't play |
| we do not play | we don't play |
| they do not play | they don't play |
How about the question form of the present simple tense?
We use 'do' or 'does' before the subject to make the 'yes / no' question:
| Yes / No questions |
| do I play ? |
| do you play ? |
| does he play ? |
| does she play ? |
| does it play ? |
| do we play ? |
| do they play ? |
Just like with 'be', if you'd like to make a 'wh' question, you just put the question word at the front:
| Wh Questions | |
| where | do I play ? |
| what | do you play ? |
| why | does he play ? |
| who | does she play ? |
| when | do we play ? |
| how | do they play ? |