Present simple: what you always or often do
You use the present simple for habits and facts. With he, she and it the verb takes an -s: she plays, he watches.
Why
Your pen friend in Manchester asks what an ordinary school day looks like for you. How do you tell them?
You talk about your habits in the present simple: I get up at seven. I go to school by bike. My sister plays football on Saturdays.
Facts are in the present simple too: The Eurostar goes to London. Cats like fish. So you need this tense in almost every conversation and every text about yourself.
See it
Pick a verb and a subject. With he, she and it the ending builds up, and you see which spelling rule applies.
After s, ss, sh, ch, x and o you write -es.
Description of the picture
On the left are buttons with subjects, on the right buttons with verbs such as play, watch, go, study and have. In the middle is the sentence, for example She watches TV. The ending es is highlighted, with the rule: after ch, sh, s, ss, x and o you write es. With I, you, we and they the verb has no ending.
Get it
You use the present simple for things you always, often or never do, and for facts. The verb stays as it is: I play, you play, we play, they play.
Only with he, she and it (and with one person or thing, like my dad or the train) do you add an -s: he plays, the train leaves. That is the most important rule of this lesson.
Sometimes the spelling changes. After s, ss, sh, ch, x and o you write -es: watches, washes, goes, does. A consonant + y becomes -ies: study becomes studies. A vowel + y just takes -s: play becomes plays. And have becomes has.
To make it negative, use don't or doesn't and the base verb: I don't like tea, she doesn't like tea. Careful: the -s is already in doesn't, so the verb does not take another one.
Words like always, usually, often, sometimes and never go before the verb: I always walk to school. After am, is or are they go after it: She is often late.
He/she/it + verb + -s (-es after s, ss, sh, ch, x, o; consonant + y becomes -ies; have becomes has). Negative: don't or doesn't + the verb without -s.
Examples to listen to
My brother plays football every Saturday.
One person, a habit: verb + -s.
She watches TV after dinner.
After ch you write -es.
He studies French at school.
A consonant + y becomes -ies.
The train doesn't stop in Lille.
Negative: doesn't + stop, without -s.
I always walk to school.
Always goes before the verb.
My mum has got a new bike.
Have becomes has, and has got is very British.
Worked example
Fill in: Emma ___ (go) to the cinema every Friday, but she ___ (not like) horror films.
Emma is one person, so the verb takes an -s.
Go ends in o, so you write -es: goes.
The negative is doesn't + the verb without -s: doesn't like.
- Answer
Emma goes to the cinema every Friday, but she doesn't like horror films.
Do it
Pick a level. You get a new exercise every time, checked straight away.
Pitfalls
Wrong: She play tennis.
With he, she and it the -s is easy to forget, because Dutch has no separate ending there.
Right: She plays tennis.
Wrong: He doesn't likes cheese.
The -s is already in doesn't. The verb after it has no -s.
Right: He doesn't like cheese.
Wrong: I go always to school by bus.
Dutch says ‘ik ga altijd’, but in English always goes before the verb.
Right: I always go to school by bus.
Wrong: My sister studys a lot.
After a consonant the y becomes i, and then you write -es.
Right: My sister studies a lot.
In real life
- In a letter to your pen friend: I live in Aalst. I go to school by bike and I play hockey on Wednesdays.
- On the departures board at Dover you read: The ferry leaves at 10.30.
- In a gaming chat: My brother never plays with me. He always wins.
History
English used to have the ending -eth with he, she and it quite often, as in he goeth and she loveth. You still find that form in old texts, such as Shakespeare's plays. Later, -s became the usual ending.
At the table
Play Who does what? Take turns to say one sentence about someone at the table without saying their name: She drinks coffee every morning. The others guess who it is. If you forget the -s, it is the next person's turn.
Something to do or talk about together, for parents and children. Mistakes are fine.