What Is the Simple Present Tense? (with Examples)
Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is used:- To describe facts and habits. For example:
- He plays chess.
- To describe scheduled events in the future. For example:
- The plane lands in 5 minutes.
- To tell stories (particularly jokes). For example:
- He asks the policeman for directions. (This use of the simple present tense is quite rare.)
A Video Summary
Here is a short video summarizing the simple present tense:Infographic for the Simple Present Tense
Here is an infographic explaining the simple present tense:
More Examples of the Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is used:(1) To describe facts and habits:
- I like chocolate. (Fact)
- Angela runs a youth club full of glue-sniffers. (Fact)
- I ride horses in the summer. (Fact and habit)
- It always snows here in January. (Fact and habit)
- Dawn plays chess in the evenings. (Fact and habit)
This type of sentence, especially if it's describing a habit, will usually include a time expression like "always," "every year," "never," "often," "on Mondays," "rarely," "sometimes," or "usually."
(2) To describe scheduled events in the future
- The train arrives at 5 o'clock.
- It is low tide at 0234.
(3) To tell stories (particularly jokes) to make your listener or reader feel more engaged with the story.
- A horse walks into a bar, and the barman says, "why the long face?" (Compare to: A horse walked into a bar, and the barman said, "why the long face?")
- We heard the helicopter overhead. Suddenly, the radio bursts into life.
Forming the Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is quite easy to form.base form
or
base form
+ "s"
Let's look at the verb to run (whose base form is run). In the simple present tense, run looks like this:
Person | Example |
---|---|
First person singular | I run |
Second person singular | You run |
Third person singular | He/She/It runs |
First person plural | We run |
Second person plural | You run |
Third person plural | They run |
In other words, it only changes in the third person singular (he / she / it). It adds either s, es or ies.
The Negative Version
To create a negative sentence, use "do not" + [base form of the verb]. (Use "does not" with third person singular (he / she / it).)"do not" or "does not"
+ [base form of the verb]
- I do not like chocolate.
- Angela does not run a youth club full of glue-sniffers.
- I do not ride horses in the summer.
- It does not always snow here in January.
- Dawn does not play chess in the evenings.
The Question Version
If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:"do" or "does"
+ [subject]
+ base form of verb
- Do you like chocolate?
- Does Angela run the youth club?
[question word]
+ "do" or "does"
+ [subject]
+ base form of verb
- Why does Tony talk so quickly?
- When do the farmers plant the corn?
"do" or "does"
+ [subject]
+ base form of verb
+ choice A
+ or
+ choice B
- Does Mark sing or dance?
- Do they want hamburger or sausages?
The Spelling Rules
For regular verbs, just add s:- talk > talks
- improve > improves
- guess > guesses
- mash > mashes
- fix > fixes
- go > goes
- fly > flies
- study > studies
Verb Tense Widget
Use this widget to learn about the different tenses. How do you use this widget? Well, if there's a button, a drop-down menu, or a
to base form
( verb)
Select the tenses.
Present Tenses 
Past Tenses 
Future Tenses 
The Other Present Tenses
The simple present tense is one of four present tenses. They are:The 4 Present Tenses | Example |
---|---|
simple present tense | I go |
present progressive tense | I am going |
present perfect tense | I have gone |
present perfect progressive tense | I have been going |
Slider Showing All the Tenses
The following slider shows all 12 tenses. The simple present tense is highlighted with a yellow background.Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?