🇬🇧 Learn English · A1 Grammar

🔁 Present Simple: Habits and Facts

Use the present simple to talk about things you do every day and things that are always true. Learn the important -s rule for he, she and it.

When do we use it?

We use the present simple for habits (things we do again and again), routines, and facts that are always true. Words like every day, always, usually and on Mondays often go with this tense.

I drink coffee every morning.A daily habit.

Water boils at 100 degrees.A scientific fact.

We play football on Sundays.A weekly routine.

The -s rule

With he, she and it, add -s to the verb: he works, she lives, it rains. For verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -s, -x or -o, add -es: watches, goes. For a consonant + y, change y to -ies: study becomes studies. 'Have' becomes 'has'.

She works in a bank.Saying where a woman works.

He watches TV after dinner.A man's evening habit.

My sister studies English.What a sister learns.

Negatives

Use don't (do not) with I, you, we and they. Use doesn't (does not) with he, she and it. After don't or doesn't, the verb has no -s.

I don't eat meat.Saying you never eat meat.

He doesn't like rain.Saying a man does not enjoy rain.

Questions

Start the question with Do or Does. Again, the main verb has no -s. Short answers use do, don't, does or doesn't.

Do you speak French?Asking about someone's languages.

Does she live here?Asking where a woman lives.

No, she doesn't.A short negative answer.

📝 Key words

every dayeach day

usuallymost of the time

alwaysall the time

nevernot at any time

workdo a job

livehave your home

don'tdo not

doesn'tdoes not

💡 Each time you use he, she or it, imagine a little snake hissing 'sss' at the end of the verb: she work-s, he play-s.

✅ Practice quiz

← The Verb To Be: Am, Is, Are

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