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')

 

PositivePositive Short Form
amI'm
you areyou're
he ishe's
she isshe's
it isit's
we arewe're
they arethey're

Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add 'not'.

NegativeNegative short form
am notI'm not
you are notyou aren't
he is nothe isn't
she is notshe isn't
it is notit isn't
we are notwe aren't
they are notthey 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
wheream I ?
whatare you ?
whyis he ?
whois she ?
whenare we ?
howare 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')
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'

    1. 'do' becomes 'does'
    2. 'go' becomes 'goes'

To make the negative form, you need to use 'do not' (don't) or ' does not' (doesn't).

Negative (of 'play')
do not playdon't play
you do not playyou don't play
he does not playhe doesn't play
she does not playshe doesn't play
it does not playit doesn't play
we do not playwe don't play
they do not playthey 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
wheredo I play ?
whatdo you play ?
whydoes he play ?
whodoes she play ?
whendo we play ?
howdo they play ?