The Present Simple Tense

(also called the simple present tense)

(Download this explanation in PDF)

We need to use the Present Simple a lot in English, so it's really important to understand it well. Many students have problems with the form (or how to make it).

If you'd prefer to learn about how to USE the Present Simple jump to this page.
Or, click here for all the practice exercises about this tense.

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

Click here to practise making the positive with 'be'.

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

Click here to practise making the negative with 'be'.

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 ?

Click here to practise making yes / no questions with 'be'.

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 ?

Click here to practise making 'wh' questions with 'be' .

Click here to practise making positive, negative and question forms with 'be' (exercise 1)
Click here to practise making positive, negative and question forms with 'be' (exercise 2)

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'. Click here for a list of these verbs
There are also few verbs which are irregular in the present simple:
1. 'have' becomes 'has'
2. 'do' becomes 'does'
3. 'go' becomes 'goes'

Click here to practise making the positive form for other verbs (exercise 1)
Click here to practise making the positive form for other verbs (exercise 2)

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