Present Simple Tense: How To Use It Correctly (With Examples)

Uses of the Present Simple Tense

1. Repeated actions or events

You can use the simple present tense to say that something is done repeatedly. This may include past occurrences of the event, as well as seeing into the future to say that you will continue to do it.

Steve plays table tennis with his friend every Saturday.
Every time Steve loses the game, he cries.
It always takes Steve days to recover.

2. Habits

Similarly, you can talk about habits, which are things that you do often.

Rachel only eats cereal at weekends.
On Sundays, Rachel watches TV all day.
Rachel sometimes buys an ice cream in the park.

3. Facts, truths, generalisations

Another common use of the simple present tense is to express something that is true, as a fact or generalisation. 

The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Water makes up most of the Earth’s surface.
The gravitational pull of the Moon creates tidal patterns on Earth.

4. Fixed arrangements

You can use the simple present tense to talk about something that has been arranged to happen at a fixed time, in the near future.

The match begins at 7pm this evening.
The fans pick up their tickets in advance.
The manager gives an interview after the match.

5. With future constructions

The simple present tense can be used with future constructions to describe something that happens at a future time.

The taxi driver will be holding a sign when you arrive at the airport.
After you meet him, the taxi driver will take you to the hotel.
Remember to collect your baggage before you leave the airport!

6. Instructions or directions

The simple present tense is also commonly seen on instructions or directions telling you what to do, or how to do something.

Take off the lid of the pot.
Pour the sauce sachet in and stir the noodles.
Leave to rest for 5 minutes and enjoy!

7. With ‘now’ and non-continuous verbs

Another use of the simple present tense is to express that something is happening in the present moment, using a non-continuous verb (a verb that cannot be used in a continuous tense – e.g. the present continuous tense).

There are now many ways to pay online.
I now use my mobile phone to pay for most things.
I now find it much quicker to get what I need.

How do we form the Present Simple Tense?

There can be affirmative (positive), negative, and questioning functions for all of the uses of the simple present tense.

To form the simple present tense, use the root form of the verb, with the exception of the 3rd person singular (he/she/it). 

For regular cases of the 3^rd person singular, add an ‘s’.
E.g. Rachel plays the guitar every day.
Jack walks to school in the morning.

For verbs ending in -ss, -x, -sh, -ch, add ‘-es’.
E.g. My greedy dog munches food all day long.
The baby’s mother often kisses her.

For verbs ending in ‘-y’, change the ‘-y’ to ‘-ies’.
Eg.  The baby cries when her mother is not around.
Paul tries very hard at school, but does not achieve great results.

NOTE: There is an exception to the ‘y’ rule! If there is a vowel before the ‘y’, then add ‘-s’ after the ‘y’.
E.g. The football team plays 5-a-side as a warm-up before every match.

To form the negative in the simple present tense, the auxiliary verb ‘to do’ is placed after the subject. In all cases except the 3^rd person singular, the base form ‘do’ is used. For the 3^rd person singular, the form changes to ‘does’.

‘Not’ is placed after the auxiliary to make it a negative. The verb then follows.

To form the interrogative (a question), put the auxiliary verb (‘do’, or ‘does’ for 3^rd person singular) before the subject.

To form an interrogative that is negative, place ‘not’ after the auxiliary verb. You can also use contracted forms.

E.g. Don’t you love me anymore?

Common mistakes with Present Simple (and how to avoid them!)

1. Adding an auxiliary verb when not needed

Sometimes, learners will add an auxiliary verb before the main verb when it is not required. To form the simple present tense in the affirmative, there is no need to add an auxiliary verb.

E.g.  I am wash the dishes after dinner. (incorrect)
I wash the dishes after dinner. (correct)

2. Leaving out the ‘s’ ending in the 3^rd person singular

Since the simple present tense uses the base conjugation for all cases (except the 3^rd person singular!), sometimes learners will forget to add the ‘s’ that comes at the end of the verb for this special case.

E.g. When Martin get   upset, I try to leave him alone. (incorrect)
When Martin gets upset, I try to leave him alone. (correct)

3. Adding a future construction when not needed

For the special function of the simple present tense to be used to describe future events, sometimes learners incorrectly add a future construction. In fact, just the regular simple present tense is all that is needed.

E.g. We’ll pick you up from school as soon as you’ll finish. (incorrect)
We’ll pick you up from school as soon as you finish. (correct)

Present Simple Tense: Quiz exercises

Test your understanding of the present simple with these exercises. Select the correct answer for each of the questions and get your score at the end of the quiz. You can also share your result via social media and challenge your friends to try it too!

Written by Alex Jude —

ESL Specialist & CEO at Online Teachers UK

Alex Jude is the Founder & CEO of Online Teachers UK. He holds a BA hons degree in Linguistics from The University of Manchester and is a life-long English teacher. Following graduation, he spent 2002-2012 living and teaching in Russia, where he lectured in General Linguistics and Translation Studies. Alex is a fluent Russian speaker and worked with the BBC at the World Cup in 2018. In his spare time, he enjoys camping/bushcraft, playing guitar and watching rugby league.