The Simple Present Tense


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In today's lesson we continue We continue with the Simple Present Tense.

To study the prior lesson, click here, on "When do we use the simple present tense?"

How do we form the Simple Present Tense?

 

In the simple present tense, the subject and the verb must agree (must be in concordance) in number (singular, plural) and person (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person).  

This holds true for action verbs as well as be verbs, and for positive verbs as well as negative verbs.

Look below.

1.  Positive Action Verbs

Regular Action Verbs - Simple Present Tense

When the verb is 3rd person singular, place an ending on the base form of the verb.

The ending will be ~s or ~es depending on the spelling of the word.

  1st person (I, we) 2nd person (you) 3rd person ( he, she, it)
singular (I) wait (you) wait (he, she, it) waits
plural (we) wait (you) wait (they) wait

Irregular Action Verbs - Simple Present Tense


to have 1st person (I, we) 2nd person (you) 3rd person ( he, she, it)
singular (I) have (you) have (he, she, it) has
plural (we) have (you) have (they) have

to go 1st person (I, we) 2nd person (you) 3rd person ( he, she, it)
singular (I) go (you) go (he, she, it) goes
plural (we) go (you) go (they) go

The pronouns everybody, everyone, everything, nobody, and nothing are 3rd person singular.


Editing Tips:  Edit for correct subject-verb agreement.

Problem:   Everybody look forward to Friday night because this is the last day of work and of school.
Solution:   Everybody ________  forward to Friday night because this is the last day of work and of school.

Editing Tips:  Edit for correct verb form.

 Problem:  Sometimes we going dancing or going somewhere special to eat.
Solution:  Sometimes we _______ out dancing or  ______ somewhere special to eat.

Click here for the answers to this editing exercise.

2.  Positive be Verbs


We continue this unit with our next lesson, Simple Present Tense: How to form positive be verbs. 

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