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Present simple: affirmative and negative
| Affirmative | Negative |
| I stay in bed late. He / She / It stays in bed late. You / We / They stay in bed late. | I don't stay in bed late. He / She / It doesn't stay in bed late. You / We / They don't stay in bed late. |
The affirmative form is the base form of the verb (infinitive without to). To make the third person singular (he, she, it), we add -s. Some verbs take -ies
| Most verbs
| add -s meet→meets play→plays spend→spends stay→stays drop the y and add -ies carry carries copy → copies flyflies study → studies add -es go→goes watch→watches finish→finishes fix→fixes miss→misses |
We make the negative form with do not or does not and the base form of the verb.
In spoken and informal written English, we use short forms in the negative.
She does not draw. → She doesn't draw.
We do not bake. → We don't bake.
Usage
We use the present simple
1. to describe things which happen regularly or all the time.
We finish school at 3:30.
My cousin plays video games every day.
I don't spend a lot of time on my phone.
2. to describe permanent situations.
My aunt comes from Australia.
We live in the countryside.
Esin and Fatma speak Turkish and German.
3. to give opinions.
I like football and basketball.
We think this TV programme is interesting.
I don't like fast-food restaurants.
We often use the present simple with adverbs of frequency.
He always does his homework.
You never stay in bed late.
100%-----------------------------------------------> 0%
always usually often sometimes never
Adverbs of frequency describe how often something happens.
He is often late for school.
I've always got my phone with me.
They don't usually play video games.
Adverbs of frequency go in a different position with be, have got and all other verbs e.g. play, watch or stay.
| Verb | Position | |
| Affirmative | be have got other verbs | after the verb between have and got before the verb |
| Negative | be have got other verbs | after the verb between have and got before don't / doesn't and the verb |
| Questions | be have got other verbs | after the subject between the subject and got before the verb |
Present simple: questions
| Questions | Short answers | |
| Affirmative | Negative | |
| Do I collect things? Does he / she / it collect things? Do you / we / t hey collect things? | Yes, I do. Yes, he / she / it does. Yes, you / we / they do. | No, I don't. No, he / she / it doesn't. No, you / we / they don't. |
We make the question form with Do or Does plus subject plus the base form of the verb.
We make short answers with do or does in the affirmative and don't or doesn't in the negative. The question words Who, What, When, Why, How, How often, How much and What time go before do / does.
What time do you finish school?
Where does Pavel live?
How often do they go to the park?
