THE SIMPLE TENSE

Miss. Alexandra Amelia

 SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

To describe facts and habits •Lee loves pies. (Fact)

•I play chess on Tuesdays. (Habit)
(NB: These activities do not have to
be happening right now.)

To describe scheduled events in the •The plane arrives at 7 o'clock.

future •The sun rises at 0530 tomorrow.
(I know! It's supposed to be the
present tense

To tell stories (particularly jokes) to •A skeleton walks into a bar and

make your listener or reader feel says "Give me a beer and a mop.
more engaged with the story
 HOW USE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE?

 To talk about generalities or facts.

 The present simple can be used to tell us general actions that
happen in the present time or tell us a fact or truth.
 For example, the sentence “lions hunt and eat meat” tells us
a fact about lions, and we use the present simple to say that
this is a general truth.

 To talk about circumstances that don’t change.

 When there’s a situation or a circumstance that doesn’t look like it’s
going to change anytime soon, we can also use the present simple.
 For example, the sentence “Linda lives in a big house” shows us that
living in a large home is Linda’s current situation, and that isn’t
changing.
 HOW USE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE?

 To talk about habits or actions that repeat.

 To talk about things that are habits (things you do
regularly) or that are repeated, we also use the present
simple. We could use the present simple in the
sentence, “I read the newspaper every morning,” for
example, to show that reading the newspaper is a habit.

o To express feelings or desires.

o If we want to show how we’re feeling or what we want, we need to
use the present simple in English. For example, this tense is needed
to say, “Tom feels sad” or “I want to eat salmon for dinner.”
 HOW USE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE ?

 To give directions or instructions.

 Aside from these uses, the present simple can also be used to
give directions or instructions. For example, we might read a
recipe that says, “to make a cake, first you measure the flour,
then you crack two eggs, then you mix the ingredients…”
 These types of instructions or directions can also be given in
the English imperative (command) form, however.

To talk about things that will happen in the near future.

o Even though the future simple exists in English, the present
simple can be used to talk about things that are about to
happen or that we are planning to do. For example, in the
sentence, “the movie starts at 7 p.m. tonight,” we’re talking
about an action in the near future that we know will happen
 SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Affirmative Interrogative Negative

I think Do I think? I do not think
You think Do you think? You do not think
He thinks Does he think? He does not think
She thinks Does she think? She does not think
It thinks Does it think? It does not think
We think Do we think? We do not think.
They think Do they think? They do not think.
 Notes on the simple present, third person singular
 In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
 Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of
the auxiliary 'DO') + the infinitive of the verb.
He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberr y? He does not
want vanilla.
 Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:
fly --> flies, cr y --> cries
Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:
play --> plays, pray --> prays
 Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
SIMPLE PAST TENSE
 SIMPLE PAST TENSE

 Simple Tenses
 the simple past tense describes a completed activity
that happened in the past. In other words, the activity
started in the past and ended in the past.

Examples
John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
My father died last year.
He lived in Fiji in 1976.
We crossed the Channel yesterday.
Affirmative
Subject + verb + ed
I skipped.
Negative
Subject + did not + infinitive without to
They didn't go.
Interrogative
Did + subject + infinitive without to
Did she arrive?
Interrogative negative
Did not + subject + infinitive without to
Didn't you play?
 EXAMPLE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

To Walk

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I walked I didn't walk Did I walk?
You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?
He walked He didn't walk Did he walk?
We walked We didn't walk Did we walk?
They walked They didn't walk Did they walk?
 SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Simple past tense of to be, to have, to do

Subject Verb
Be Have Do
I was had did
You were had did
He/She/It was had did
We were had did
You were had did
They were had did
SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
 SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

 To me, future simple is the least difficult verb tense in

English. It is formed with the use of two verbs: shall (for the
first person – I, we) and will (for all the rest). This is the case
with British English; in American English, shall is rarely used,
and will is used in all cases.
 In recent times, shall is used in more formal speech or in
writing, and will is used in all cases in conversational speech.
 Also, very often the verbs are shortened to end in –ll, which
makes it easier since you don’t have to worry about which
word to use.
 In order to form statements, use the following structure:
personal pronoun or name (or any other word that acts as the
subject) + will/shall + basic verb + the rest of the sentence.
 HOW USE THE SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE??

 The simple future is used:

 To predict a future event:
It will rain tomorrow.
 With I or We, to express a spontaneous decision:
I'll pay for the tickets by credit card.
 To express willingness:
I'll do the washing-up.
He'll carry your bag for you.
 In the negative form, to express unwillingness:
The baby won't eat his soup.
I won't leave until I've seen the manager!
 With I in the interrogative form using "shall", to make an offer:
Shall I open the window?
 With we in the interrogative form using "shall", to make a suggestion:
Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
simple future tense

Affirmative Negative Interrogative Interrogative

negative
I will see I won't see Will I see? Won't I see?
*I shall see *Shall I see?
You will see You won't see Will you see? Won't you see?
He will see He won't see Will he see? Won't he see?
We will see We won't see Will we see? Won't we see?
*We shall see *Shall we see?
They will see They won't see Will they see? Won't they see?