The Simple Present Tense

The main use of the simple present tense is to express habitual actions:

Examples:

Ø  He smokes.

Ø  Dogs bark.

Ø  The child drinks milk.

Ø  Birds fly.

Ø  He plays cricket.

     This tense does not tell us whether or not the action is being performed at the moment of speaking.

Example: He smokes, the sentence does not mean he is smoking at the moment of speaking, but it means he has a habit of smoking.

     The simple present tense is often used with adverbs or adverb phrases such as: always, never, occasionally, often, sometimes, usually, every week, on Mondays, twice a year, rarely, hardly, seldom, every day, at Christmas, frequently, generally etc.

Examples:

Ø  He usually drinks tea.

Ø  She never comes here.

Ø  They never tell lies.

Ø  He goes to Church every Sunday.

Ø  I always reach on time.

Ø  This paper appears twice weekly.

Ø  I go to school by bus every day.

Ø  He often gets up at 6.00 am.

Ø  He generally wears trousers.

Ø  I usually drink a cup of coffee in the morning.

To express general truths.

Examples:

Ø  Two and two make four.

Ø  The sun rises in the east.

Ø  Water boils at 100……

Ø  The earth goes round the Sun.

Ø  The crow is black.

Ø  Honey is sweet.

It can be for a planned future action or series of actions, particularly when they refer to a journey. Travel agents use it a good deal.

Examples:

Ø  We leave London at 10.00 next Tuesday and arrive in Paris at 13.00. We spend two hours in Paris and leave again at 15.00. We arrive in Rome at 19.30, spend four hours in Rome etc

Planned future action:

Ø  The school reopens in June.

Ø  The play begins at 2 p.m.

Ø  The show closes at 6 p.m.

Ø  I leave for Mumbai next week.

Ø  The classes begin at 10 pm.

Ø  The prime minister visits our state next month.

Ø  The Indian team goes to the Caribbean island next month.

Ø  The train leaves at 5.00

Ø  The next flight is at 7.00 tomorrow morning.

The following verbs are normally used in the simple present instead of the present continuous. These verbs are called Stative verbs, which express a state rather than an action.

(a) Verbs of appearing- appear, look, seem.

(b) Verbs of emotion- want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate, hope, prefer, and refuse.

(c) Verbs of perception- see, hear, smell, notice, recognize.

(d)Verbs of thinking-agree, believe, consider, forget, imagine, know, mean, mind, remember, suppose, think, trust, and understand.

(e)Verbs of possession- belong to, consist of, contain, have, own, possess.

(f) the verb of ‘be’

Some verbs can have both stative and progressive meanings and uses.

Examples:

Ø  These flowers smell good.       Jinan is smelling the flowers.

Ø  It tastes too salty.                     The chef is tasting the sauce.

To express permanent state:

Examples:

Ø  The Himalayas are on the north of India.

Ø  Port Blair is the capital of the Andaman.

When two actions of the future are being talked about, one dependent on the other, the former action is denoted by present simple and the latter by future simple.

Example:

Ø  We shall go when the child comes back home.

It can be used for dramatic narrative. This is particularly useful when describing the action of a play, opera etc., and is often used by radio commentators at sports events, public functions etc.

Example:

Ø  When the curtain rises, Juliet is writing at her desk. Suddenly the window opens and a masked man enters.

Sports commentaries:

Ø  Sukur passes the ball to Berkamp!

Ø  Schumacher maintains his lead over the other racers.

Ceremonial Use

Examples:

Ø  I pronounce you husband and wife!

Ø  I name the ship TITANIC!

To introduce quotations:

Example:

Ø  Pop says,” A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

Ø  Shakespeare says, ‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be.’

Other verbs of communication are also possible:

Ø  Shakespeare advises not to borrow or lend.

Ø  A notice at the end of the road warns people not to go any further.

In exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there to express what is actually taking place in the present.

Examples:

Ø  Here comes the bus!

Ø  There she goes!

When two actions of the future are being talked about, one dependent on the other, the former action is denoted by present simple and the latter by future simple.

Example:

Ø  We shall go when the child comes back home.

It can be used in newspaper headlines:

Examples:

Ø  MASS MURDERER ESCAPES

Ø  PEACE TALKS FAIL

Ø  MAN REACHES THE MOON

It is used in conditional sentences, type I

Examples:

Ø  If I see Ann I will ask her.

Ø  Unless you take the brake off the car won’t move.

It is used in imperative sentences:

Examples:

Ø  Come out of the room.

Ø  Open your books.

For instructions and directions:

Ø  Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.

Ø  To start the machine, press the yellow button and turn the arrow to the right.

Form of the present tense

Positive statement

Word order: subject +verb2

Example:

Ø  I play chess

Ø  She plays chess

Negative statements

Word order: subject+ do/does +not+ verb1

Example:

Ø  I don’t play

Ø  She doesn’t play

Wh-questions

Word order: question word+ do/does+ subject+verb1 

Example:

Ø  What do you play?

Ø  What does she play?

Yes/No questions

Word order: do/does+ subject+verb1

Example:

Ø  Do you play?

Ø  Does she play?

References: English is easy by chetananand singh

                    A practical English Grammar by A.J. Thomson & A.V. Martinet