English language rules present simpl. Present Simple: education rules and use cases

Those who have taken up the English language are frightened, first of all, by the so-called times. But if you figure it out, then these are not some mythical times at all, but simply forms of the verb that are conjugated in speech and carry a certain meaning.

Do not think that the British perceive the world at some special times. In the simplest table, there are as many as 12 of them. There are really 12 of them, but this is just pure grammar and has nothing to do with real life. In fact, there are only three times in the physical world - the present, the past and the future. Those times that grammarians write about are just an artificial creation. If we want, we will do 20. In Russian, for example, the conjugation of the verb and the system of prefixes are developed:

I'm going. I left. I'm leaving. I will go

Such proposals can be made more than a dozen. But in fact, the initial form of the predicate is "to go." The English language is much poorer in this regard, but it compensates for these nuances with a developed system of tenses.

Important! It must be remembered that the noun () + conjugated verb form the semantic core of any sentence, i.e. are the focus of the offer.

Essence of Present Simple

It is difficult to say why this time has become Simple in two decades. Again tricks of pundits? When I was a schoolboy, textbooks called him indefinite ( Present Indefinite), and this name appeals to me more. It is found in many grammars to this day. Consider what place the Present Simple occupies on the scale of physical time. If you think about it, what is real. The second that runs? Current time period? What has already ended, but there is a result? Let's leave these reflections to philosophers - grammar considers time in its own way.

In all manifestations of the present, Present Simple occupies its own niche - it is used in relation to actions taking place at the present time, but not tied to the moment of action. it actions that happen regularly, that repeat or never happen.

From the point of view of grammar, the absence of action is also a kind of regularity. For example,

I never drink coffee. — I never drink coffee.

Present simple markers

always - always
often - often
usually - usually
once in a while - occasionally; sometimes
once a week - once a week
twice a week - twice a week
sometimes - sometimes
seldom - rarely; infrequently
hardly ever - almost never
never - never
every day/week/month - every day/week/month
etc. (everything related to regularity, recurrence of events)

Education Present Simple

So, how is the Present Simple formed? I have good and bad news for you:

a) good news

To form Present Simple, it is enough to take a pronoun (there are exceptions) or a noun in and simply add a verb to it:

I play football. - I'm play soccer.

My friends live there. - My friends live there.

Education Present Simple for pronouns I, you, we, they

But if you have a subject she, he, it or a noun in the singular, then you already need to add a suffix to the predicate -(e)s. But when pronouncing, the same rules almost always work here as in the formation of the plural of a noun, so it will not be difficult to get acquainted:

My brother watches MTV. — My brother watches TV.

Many grammarians recommend in such cases to use circumstances indicating the repetition of an action ( after school, often etc.), but this is not necessary at all - the British will understand that this action is regular.

Education Present Simple for pronouns he, she, it (3rd person)

b) bad news

For the formation of a negative, auxiliary verbs appear in Present Simple, which mean absolutely nothing, but if we talk about literary speech, they must be present. For she, he, it and a singular noun, this is does, for all other personal pronouns and plural nouns - do. There is nothing complicated here.

If the sentence is interrogative, put it before the subject. In Russian, such questions are formed only by intonation.

If the sentence is negative, put it after the subject do or does and particle not.

Don't be afraid to use the full verb do in negative or question:

I do not do anything on Sundays. — I don't do anything on Sundays.

First do does not mean anything. In colloquial speech, it is even abbreviated to don't.

A few more simple truths

Don't forget that the auxiliary verb do pronounced, and its negative form in an abbreviated version (it dominates in speech) -, and, accordingly, the form does pronounced, and negative - doesn't. Both are used to form interrogative and negative sentences.

Such questions are called in grammar special:

What do you do on Sundays? — What do you do on Sundays?

What does your friend do on Sundays? What does your friend do on Sundays?

The only exceptions are questions to the subject. In this case, the auxiliary verb do is not used, and the semantic verb is always in the third person singular, i.e. with the ending -(e)s:

Who lives next door to you? - Who lives next door to you?

Such questions are always posed with -(e)s on the verb, regardless of the number of objects.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Add the ending -(e)s where necessary:

1. Your father … that we are here. (know)
2. These cameras…too much for me. (cost)
3. Paul …interested. (seem)
4. I … coffee very much. (like)
5. The bus … at the corner. (stop)
6. Chuck … Jessica to the movies every Saturday. (take)
7. The children … just like their mother. (look)
8. He … everything you teach us. (remember)

Exercise 2

Form negative and interrogative sentences. If there is a question word in brackets, the question must be special. Please note that the question may contain a negative. In such cases, there will be a small hint in brackets.

1. Mr. Baker works in a bank. (where?)
2. Bob's parents play tennis. (who?)
3. The soup tastes good.
4. The plane leaves at 6'olock. (when?)
5. Wood and paper burn easily, but glass doesn't burn at all. (What? (What's not lit at all?)
6. Jane love flowers. (who?)
7. This house belongs to Mary.
8. I go to the market every week. (how often?)

A few important notes

The Present Simple is often used in tennis or football commentary to express actions that are happening at the moment. This can obviously be explained by the simplicity of its formation - the task of the commentator is to quickly cover events on the court or football field.

Some verbs in the Present Simple express the past tense, especially hear and see:

I hear you are getting mrried. (I heard that you are getting married.)

Verbs see and think(and a number of others) in Present Simple mean “understand” and “express an opinion”, respectively, although in many other times they have a different meaning.

Present Simple with verbs can express movement. There is an example of this in the second exercise.

Finally

Present Simple has many subtleties and nuances. We have reviewed the main ones. The main thing is to understand the essence of this species-temporal form. Don't try to learn this lesson in one fell swoop. Do the exercises, other textbooks have them too. Re-read several times.

Present Simple (Presentation simpl) is a simple present tense - a very common, very important form of the English verb. It is used to convey permanent actions, as well as actions of a periodically recurring nature, to describe habits, hobbies, facts.

And although the very name of this time includes the word "simple", in application it turns out to be not so simple, there are some nuances and exceptions to the rules.

Hear how Anna Cambridge University Press explains the uses of Present Simple. Anna speaks English, but very clearly, even a beginner will understand her, especially since the explanation is accompanied by writing and pictures.

Rules for using Present Simple (video in English)

Education Table Present Simple

The table shows that only the verbs of the 3rd person singular, that is, those that agree with the pronouns he, she, it , differ in spelling: they take the ending -s . In some cases, this ending can be -es (go - go es, do - does, search - searches, wash - washes), or -ies (cry - cr ies , study - studies , hurry - hurries , apply - applies ).

Examples (suggestions) + explanation in Russian

1. Verbs in present simpl are used to express action permanent or recurring:

2. We are talking about facts, for example, that the earth revolves around the sun, water boils at 100 degrees, and the like.

3. We talk about how often we do something (we use adverbs always, never, sometimes, often, rarely, usually)

4. By the way, there is a way to just remember these, this will help us .... dinosaur, or rather an acronym DINOSAUR(each letter of the word is associated with a certain adverb, thus helping to remember them)

5. We talk about our thoughts, express feelings, which, although they are temporary, are not used in, this state verbs, as well as verbs that describe our promises, assumptions, tips, namely:

suggest, advise, promise, agree, refuse, insist, apologise, recommend, want, understand

Listen to a fun, simple song for kids about the activities we do every morning when we wake up. Adults also do not hurt to listen to strengthen the use of Present Simple.

present simple is the simple present tense in English. Present simple is used to describe PERMANENT actions. For TEMPORARY actions, another time is used - Present continuous (present continius).

Present simpl is the most commonly used tense of the four present tenses in English. It occurs in about 65% of sentences expressed in the present tense. However, it is not universal and cannot describe any situation in the present. The following video shows in which cases the Present simple is used and how it is formed.

In order to understand the essence of any time, including the Present simple, you need to consider two aspects - the rules of formation and the rules of use. Let's start with the last one.

Rule of use 1.
Present simple is used to describe PERMANENT actions:

Rule of use 2.
Present simple describes constant situations WITHOUT INDICATION of the duration of the action. (The present perfect is used with the duration of the action)

Education rules Present simple

Education rule 1.
The present simple present simple is conjugated differently for singular and plural. The singular has an s ending, the plural does not:

Rule of education 2.
The pronoun "you" does not exist in English. Even children and animals are referred to as "you". Therefore, the verb with the word "you" cannot have the ending "s".

Education rule 3.
"I (I)" in English is used according to the rules of the PLURAL number, (i.e. without the ending S). This emphasizes the equally respectful attitude not only to the interlocutor, to whom they turn only to “You”, but also to oneself. A special attitude towards oneself can also be traced in the spelling "I (I)", it is always written with a capital letter - I.

Present simple for the verb like (table 1)
to like - love something

Here is an example of the conjugation of another verb "love" in the present simple:

The verb " love" in Present simple, table 2
to love - to love someone

Education rule 4.
In the Present simple, all verbs are singular by adding the ending s. However, there are 3 verbs that fall outside of this rule. These are the verbs:

It is necessary to remember how these verbs are conjugated in the Present Simple.

The verb "have" in the present simple, table 3
to have - to have

Present simple tense, verb "to do - do", table 4
do - to do

Formation Present simple for the verb "to be" is different from other verbs. The form for "I-Z" in it does not match either the plural or the singular. The conjugation of this verb in the Present simple must be remembered.

Starting to learn the tense system of the English language, many look ahead with fear. How to remember all this? How to understand everything? Gradually, moving from rule to rule, from example to example, from exercise to exercise. And the first tense that meets on the way of the students is Present Simple (Indefinite).

The general meaning of this rule is a reflection of actions that occur usually, regularly, habitually. In other words, Present Indefinite Tense states a fact, simply reports some information. The English sentence is built according to a clear pattern, but each tense has its own characteristics. What you need to know about present simple (indefinite)?

Education

An affirmative sentence is composed according to the following principle: Subject + verb + minor members. But not everything is so easy. If in place of the main member of the sentence there are pronouns she/he/it or nouns in the 3rd person singular, then we add the ending to the verb - s(es). So the schema looks like this: S + V (Vs).

With interrogative and negative sentences, the grammar of Present Simple dictates a completely different principle to us. Auxiliary verbs appear do/does where does is used with she/he/it and 3rd person singular subjects, and do with everything else. They are not translated, they have no semantic meaning. These are helpers who in questions take place before the subject, and in negations after, but with a particle not. It is worth noting that the predicate here again changes its form - the infinitive without to (as the verb is presented in the dictionary). Questions and negatives are as follows: Do/Does + S + V 1 ? and S + do/ does + not + V 1.

In colloquial speech, many words are combined so that the sentence is not cumbersome. That is why they often use short forms:

do not = don't

does not = doesn't

It's important to know!

The rules of Present Simple (Indefinite) are not limited to this. There are little nuances that need to be learned.

1. Writing Features verbs ending in s or es.

• if the verb ends with a letter "o", then we add es : goes, does.
• The situation is the same with hissing consonants, if the word ends with them: s, x, ch, sh: mixes, matches, pushes, misses.
• provided that the predicate ends with a letter "y" , and before it is a consonant, then "y" changes to i+es: stu d y-stu d ies, fly-flies. Ho: stay-st a ys, say-s a ys.

2. Pronunciation the same ending s is also changeable. So, after deaf consonants, it is necessary to pronounce the sound [s]: drops, lets. If the ending is next to a vowel or voiced consonant, then it sounds like [z]: adds, plays. But after the sounds it is necessary to pronounce as : loses, mixes.

3. I also want to note two verbs that do not follow the general rules. it to be and to have. For example, to be has distinctive forms that depend on the subject: I - am, She/he/it + is, we/you/they - are. They are fixed, there are not many of them, so it will not be difficult to learn (You can learn more about this from the article of the same name “The verb to be in English”). Negation and questions are built without the help of auxiliary ones. Being at the same time a predicate, in questions to be becomes before the subject, and in negations it is used with a particle not.

She is the first passenger. She is the first passenger.

Are you a good son? - You are a good son?

We aren't at school, we are at home. We are not at school, we are at home.

The verb to have in the affirmative sentence with the subjects she/ he/ it takes the form has, with all the rest - have.

She has a nice car. - She has a beautiful car.

We have a strong family. We have a strong family.

Using Present Indefinite

1. As mentioned earlier, the present simple time reflects the usual, regular or infrequent behaviors that can be called the norm . Often used with adverbs such as: always (always), usually (usually), generally (usually, as a rule), occasionally (occasionally, sometimes, from time to time), frequently (often), sometimes (sometimes), often (often), twice a year (twice per year), once a week (once a week), every day (year, month), from time to time (from time to time), rarely (rarely), every other day (every other day), daily (daily), monthly (monthly).

They seldom go out on Sundays. They rarely leave the house on Sundays.

It doesn't often rain in winter here. It doesn't often rain here in winter.

As a rule, she has a meal at home. She usually eats at home.

2. Constant characteristics such as hobbies, habits, customs and traditions.

As a hobby Jim and Ken design paper ships. As a hobby, Jim and Ken make paper ships.

The British drink tea at 5 o'clock. The British drink tea at 5 o'clock.

I paint for pleasure, but not because I want to make money out of it. I paint for fun, not to make money.

3. Natural phenomena, undeniable truths, generalizations are always used in Present Simple.

Summer follows spring. Summer comes after spring.

The earth is round. - The earth is round.

4. Schedule, routes, working hours.

The shop closes at 7 p.m. — The store closes at 7.

The train leaves from the station at 5. - The train leaves the station at 5.

5. With state verbs (More details in the article “Verbs not used in Continuous”), which express feelings, opinions, etc.

I disagree with him. — I do not agree with him.

I hate your driving a car. — I hate it when you drive.

6. Sports commentators always use the Present Simple. The same time is used in instructions, statements, anecdotes.

Now I peel the potatoes, slice them, put into the bowl (recipe) - Now I peel the potatoes, cut them into pieces and put them on a plate.

Becker passes to Lendle. Baker hands over to Landel.

7.Retelling movies, anecdotes, stories , it is better to use a present simpl.

Events go rapidly. John meets her and they fall in love with each other. — Events developed rapidly. John met her and they fell in love with each other.

8. In subordinate clauses of condition and time, after unions when, if, after, before, as soon as, until, in case, unless (although we translate the future).

I'll phone you as soon as I come. - I'll call you as soon as I get there.

If it rains we will stay at you overnight. If it rains, we will stay with you for the night.

Time Comparison

To make it easier for you to understand this time, its essence, let's compare it with other present tenses and find the differences.

According to all the rules of Present Simple (Indefinite), it is quite often used. It can be said that it occupies a leading position in use. When studying this tense, pay attention to education, or rather to auxiliary verbs and endings, but use cases will be easier to remember if you do a few exercises.

Simple Present (simple present) is the foundation from which any student should start learning grammar. Very often, those who have just started learning English get confused in numerous tenses, of which there are really quite a lot. This lesson presents the complete rules for using the Present Simple, supported by illustrative examples and illustrations. We hope that this will help you deal with the difficulties that have arisen in understanding this aspect of English grammar.

So, let's look at the cases when the simple present tense is used, in order.

1. Repetitive actions

When we talk about events, actions that are repetitive, occur periodically, it is necessary to use Present Simple. That is, such repetitive actions can be habits, hobbies, daily activities, scheduled events, and in general everything that happens often.

For example, when a person often forgets or does not do something, it is worth talking about it using the simple present tense.

Examples of using Present Simple:

In such situations, the use of adverbs is very common. sometimes, often, always and never, which show how often someone does something. Pay attention to such adverbs, as they indicate exactly the use of the Present Simple. Of course, unless we are talking about the past tense. Then the situation is somewhat different.

2. Facts and generalization

The Simple Present is also used when we are talking about established facts. That is, about those statements that are always true and do not change their meaning. Even if the person who claims something turns out to be wrong, he still uses Present Simple in this case in his speech.

Another point is generalization. When we talk about some concept or about some things, phenomena in general, we again turn to the simple present tense.

Let's look at examples:

3. Near future on schedule

Sometimes Simple Present is used when talking about planned events for the near future, which most often occur according to a set schedule.

This can be both a public transport schedule and other events that take place according to a prescribed schedule.

4. Present Simple and state verbs

Often, the simple present tense appears in cases where the action is happening or not happening right now, but only with certain verbs that are not used in the long form (that is, with the ending -ing) at all or are used only in some cases.

Try to memorize the following list of verbs that are used only (or almost only) in the Simple Present form.

For a better understanding, here are a few more examples of using the Present Simple with the listed verbs.

In English, verbs that are not used in a continuous form (continous) are called non- continuous verbs or state verbs(state verbs). Some of the listed verbs are still used in the continous form, they are called mixed verbs. These include verbs to appear, to be, to feel, to have, to hear, to look, to taste, to thinks, to see, to smell, to weigh.

5. Description of the plots of books, films, plays and so on

We all like to share our impressions in one way or another after watching a movie or reading a book, as well as retelling in brief the main actions that take place in a particular work. The main thing to remember is to retell events in the form of a simple present tense.

6. Conditional sentences (The First Conditional and The Zero Conditional)

• If it rains, I won't come to visit.

• If I see him, I'll tell him.

Note that the present tense is used in the first part of the sentence, after "if". What happens if the condition is not met is in the form of the future tense.

7. After the words 'when', 'until', 'after', 'before' and ‘as soon as’ in sentences expressing the future tense

• I will call you when I have time. (WARNING: not ‘will have’)

• He'll see you before he leaves.

• I won't go out until it stops raining.

The last two cases of using the present tense are very important to remember, since there is a significant difference between English and Russian.

Let's compare. As an example, take the sentences "If will be rain i stay home" and "I I will come when I have will be time". As you can see, both parts of the sentence express the future tense. This is not the case in English.

Try to translate these sentences into English yourself, taking into account the features just described.

If you're confused, here's the correct answer:

"If it rains, I'll stay at home."
"I'll come when I have time."

That's all the rules regarding the use of Present Simple that you need to know. In fact, there are not so many of them. Try to remember as many examples as possible, and then the information will definitely be deposited in your head for a long time.