SIMPLE PRESENT
This tense is used to talk about habits, routines, hobbies, etc. We use this tense to
talk about what happens in our daily life and to express actions that happen with
regularity. Another use is to talk about permanent situations and facts (science).
This tense has two conjugations, the first one is for the pronouns I, you, we, you, they.
For these pronouns, we use the base form of the verb (no change).
I play soccer every Friday.
You go to school on the weekdays.
We learn English at school.
You speak two languages.
They visit their grandparents every weekend.
We also use this form when we talk about plural things, animals and people:
My dogs play with their toys every day.
Julia and David eat lunch at the cafeteria every afternoon.
The second conjugation corresponds to the pronouns he, she and it. For this, we are
going to add -s to most verbs:
He likes pop music.
She eats pizza every Saturday.
It rains in the Summer.
This conjugation also corresponds to singular people and things:
My brother plays soccer in the afternoons.
Maria listens to music on her way home.
My dog runs very fast.
For the verbs that end in -s, -ch, - sh, -x, or -o, we add -es:
Watch – watches, wash – washes, fix – fixes, go – goes, dress – dresses
He watches TV every night. My mom washes our clothes every weekend.
She fixes computers. Sandra goes to the supermarket on Friday.
He dresses himself after he wakes up.
For the verbs that end in consonant + y, we are going to replace the -y for -ies.
Study — studies, fly — flies, cry — cries
My sister studies medicine at the University.
The baby cries when he’s hungry.
NOTE: we don’t make any changes if the verb finishes in vowel + y. Ex. play – plays
COMMON EXPRESSIONS WITH SIMPLE PRESENT
To make more elaborate sentences, we can use these expressions to refer to the
frequency with which we do something.
- Every + day, year, week, weekend, month, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
December, February, June, etc. Summer, Winter, etc.
- Once, twice, three times, four times, etc. + a day, a week, a month, a year.
ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
These words are going to help us express the frequency with which we do something.
They answer the question of How often?
We are going to place these words before the main verb, but after the verb to be:
I always wake up at 7:00 a.m. // I’m always happy.
She never has eggs for breakfast. // She is never at school.
When you finish explaining, ask students to give you more examples on their own
and include the adverbs of frequency.
