Hey, hello! Let's talk about the simple present tense.
I will break this video into three parts.
In the first part, I will explain the structure of the simple present tense.
Then I will show you when the simple present tense is used.
And in the third part of this video,
I will talk about the structure of simple present tense negatives and questions.
But before we start, there is one more important thing you should know.
Here it is.
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Now back to the video.
Okay, let's talk about how we make the simple present tense.
To make a simple present sentence, we use the base form of a verb
like play, live, and like, for example.
As you can see, the base form of a verb is the simplest form of the verb.
It's basically the form you find in the dictionary.
Here are a few examples.
I live in China.
My friends play video games every day.
You study English every day.
We all love English.
Notice that, in these examples, the subjects are I, you, we, and they.
If the subject is he or she or it,
we need to add s or es to the base form of the verb.
This is called the third person singular rule in English.
Here are a few examples.
He plays football every day.
Fast food contains a lot of fat.
She takes her son to the park on Saturdays.
So, when do we add s and when do we add es to the verb?
Here is a short explanation.
For most verbs, we add s.
For example, play becomes plays in he plays video games every day.
And sell becomes sells in he sells cars.
However, if the verb ends in s, ss, sh, ch, x or z or a consonant plus o.
If the verb ends with any of these then we need to add es.
For example, teach becomes teaches in he teaches English.
Go becomes goes in she goes to school every day.
And wash becomes washes in my father washes his car once a month.
So, in short, for the simple present tense, we use the base form of the verb.
Or the base form plus s or es, depending on the subject.
If the subject is I, you, we, or they, we use the base form of the verb.
And if the subject is he, she, or it,
we need to add s or es to the base form of the verb.
There is also one more way to make simple present sentences.
And that is to use am, is, or are as the main verb. For example, I am 39 years old.
She is married.
You are an English learner.
That's it. That is how we make simple present sentences.
You will see many more examples as we move forward in this video.
Okay, let's move on and talk about when the simple present tense is used.
Here are nine use cases for the simple present tense.
Use case number one.
To talk about facts or general truths.
We use the simple present tense to talk about facts or general truths.
For example, Germany is in Europe.
Exercise is important for our health.
Water freezes at zero degrees.
Lionel Messi is from Argentina.
Use case number two.
To talk about a situation or something that is true in the present.
When you have a look at these examples here,
they are all facts that are always true, yes?
But we can also use the simple present to talk about a situation or something
that is true in the present, but may change in the future.
Now, this is important. When I say in the present, it doesn't mean just now
but it means during this period.
It means these days.
For example,
I am 39 years old.
I live in China.
My father is an engineer and a businessman.
Let's switch to football.
Ronaldo plays football for a team in Saudi Arabia.
Liverpool is one of the best football clubs in Europe.
All these statements, all these sentences are true in the present,
but can change in the future.
Maybe Ronaldo will play for another team next year.
I'm 39, but next year I'll be 40 years old.
Use case number 3.
To talk about habits, repeated actions, or routines.
We can also use the simple present to talk about habits, repeated actions or routines.
Again, things that we do or are happening these days or during this period.
For example, I exercise five days a week.
I usually start work at 9 a.m.
I work on my YouTube channel almost every day.
You study English every day.
Paul never lies.
He always tells the truth.
My wife rarely gets angry but when she gets angry she gets really angry.
As you can see, when you talk about habits or repeated actions, you can use
adverbs of frequency like always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, or never
to make your meaning clearer.
Use cases four, five, and six.
To talk about feelings, likes, or dislikes. To talk about understanding something.
To talk about having or owning something.
The simple present is not only used for actions.
It can also be used to talk about states that are true in the present.
And we use state verbs for that.
Now, what are states?
It's very easy. Think of it this way.
When you talk about your feelings, your knowledge of something, or
something that you have, something that you own, you are talking about states.
So, you can use the simple present to talk about your feelings
and things you like or dislike.
For example, he likes pizza.
I feel hungry.
I am happy.
I don't like making normal YouTube videos.
I want to make great ones.
She prefers tea over coffee in the morning.
We love spending time with our family during the holidays.
Some of these examples here are a little bit more complex.
This is something you'll see a lot in this video.
And it is done on purpose, so you can see more complex sentence patterns.
And not just sentences like I love football.
The important point here is that all these examples use the simple present tense
and are about feelings and liking or disliking something.
All right, we can also use the simple present to talk about our knowledge of something
or that we understand something.
For example, she understands English.
I recognize that song.
He knows about different cooking styles.
Some children do not understand the importance of saving money.
He thinks that traveling helps you see and understand more about the world.
Another use case is
the use of the simple present to talk about something we have or own.
For example, I have a microphone.
They own a house.
My wife has three sisters and one brother.
I have a love for teaching English.
Before I talk about use case number seven,
a well done to you if you've made it this far in the video.
It's awesome and shows you are serious about improving your English.
Let's check the next use case.
Use case number seven.
When using zero conditionals
There is a use of the simple present tense in what we call zero conditionals.
We use zero conditionals when you want to talk about things that are always true
or that happen every time a certain condition is met.
For example, if you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
As you can see, the zero conditional sentence has two parts.
An if clause; this is the part that tells us about the condition.
And a main clause
this is the part that tells us what happens if the condition is met.
Both parts use the simple present tense. Here are three more examples.
If you exercise regularly, you stay healthy.
You get good at English if you practice every day.
If you don't water plants, they die.
Use case number eight to talk about scheduled events or let's say timetables.
We can use the simple present tense to talk about events
that are planned and will happen at a specific time in the future.
These are things like train schedules, movie times, or class schedules.
It's true that these events are in the future,
but we use the simple present tense to talk about them.
That is because these events are fixed in a schedule
and it's a fact that they will start at a specific time.
The time is already decided
So we talk about it as something certain, as a fact.
For example, when we say the train leaves at 6 p.m.
we know for sure that the train is scheduled to leave at that exact time.
We look at it as a fact. Here are a few more examples.
I finish work tomorrow at 5 p.m.
Her flight departs at noon.
The library closes at 6 p.m. today.
Use case number nine. Using simple present with the future tense.
We can use the simple present tense with the future tense
when we want to say that something will happen if or when something else happens.
For example, I will call you when I get home.
She will be upset if you don't apologize.
I will give you the details after I speak with him.
As you can see, each sentence has two parts.
The position of these parts can be switched.
For example, as soon as everyone arrives, we will start the meeting.
When you practice English every day, your English will get better.
Once you finish this video, you will know a lot about the simple present tense.
Okay, I know I said there are nine use cases, but there is one more.
We use the simple present to give instructions.
For example, click the subscribe button,
Like the video, and leave a comment.
Share this video with your friends.
Wonderful!
We are done with how the simple present tense is made and when it is used.
Let's go over how we can form negatives and questions for the simple present tense.
To make a negative simple present sentence,
if the main verb is am, is, or are, you simply put not after the verb.
For example, I'm not 25 years old anymore.
She is not angry.
They are not tired.
He is not from Japan.
For other verbs, we add do not and does not before the main verb.
Which one we use, of course, depends on the subject.
If the subject is he, she, or it, we use does not.
And if the subject is I, you, we, and they, or a plural noun, we use do not.
For example,
He goes to school every day turns into he doesn't go to school every day.
I drink alcohol changes to I don't drink alcohol.
People get depressed without reason becomes people don't get depressed without reason.
One more
James usually buys expensive gifts changes to
James doesn't usually buy expensive gifts.
There is one more very important point here.
Look at these two examples.
We add does not before the main verb, but we also do something else.
Or better to say, there is something we don't do.
Do you see it?
We don't need to add s or es to the base form of the verb anymore.
We just use the base form.
So when we form negative simple present sentences,
we do not need to add s or es to the base form of the verb anymore.
If needed, we add es to do not.
Okay, let's talk about forming simple present questions.
If the main verb is am, is, or are, we move the verb to the beginning of the sentence.
So basically,
we start the sentence with the verb plus the subject and the rest of the sentence.
For example, he is happy changes to is he happy?
You are from the US becomes are you from the US?
And this is a German car becomes is this a German car?
And so on.
For other verbs depending on the subject,
you just start the question with do or does plus the subject
plus the base form of the verb.
For example, you speak English simply changes to do you speak English?
He understands the importance of this project becomes
does he understand the importance of this project?
And the house has a garage turns into does the house have a garage?
So that is how we form questions with the simple present tense.
But you may have noticed
that the answer to all these questions either starts with yes or no.
We are basically asking if something is true or not.
Now there is another way to form questions
and that is with question words like what, where, when, why, who and how.
This is done the same way you ask yes or no questions,
but with a question word added to the beginning of the question.
Here are a few examples.
What is your name?
How old are you?
How many rooms does this house have?
Why does he work so hard?
When does the train leave?
That's it.
We have covered how simple present sentences are formed and when we can use them.
And hopefully at this point you have a better understanding on this topic.
If you have any further questions, ask them in the comment section below.
I will try my best to answer all of them.
If you found the video useful, please like, subscribe, and share it with your friends.
And if you want me to explain any other grammar points,
again, let me know in the comment section below.
I will see you in the next video and until then,
keep studying,
keep learning,
and stay motivated.
Bye.

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