Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense describes actions that are:
- Habitual or routine: Things you do regularly.
Examples: I brush my teeth every morning. She drinks coffee daily.
- General truths or facts: Things that are always true.
Examples: The sun rises in the east. Water boils at 100°C.
- Schedules or timetables: Fixed future events.
Examples: The train leaves at 7:00 AM. The movie starts at 8:00 PM.
- Stative verbs: States, feelings, opinions (e.g., like, love, know, believe).
Examples: I love chocolate. He knows the answer.
Forming the Simple Present
- Most verbs: base form (e.g.,
go, play, eat).
- Third person singular (he/she/it): add
-s or -es (e.g., goes, plays).
- Negatives:
do not (don’t) or does not (doesn’t) + base form (e.g., I don’t like spiders).
- Questions:
Do or Does + subject + base form (e.g., Do you live here?).
Simple Past Tense
The simple past tense describes actions that:
- Started and finished in the past: Completed at a specific time.
Examples: I visited my grandmother yesterday.
- Series of completed actions:
Examples: He woke up, ate breakfast, and left for school.
Forming the Simple Past
- Regular verbs: add
-ed (e.g., walked, played).
- Irregular verbs: unique past forms (e.g.,
went, ate, saw).
- Negatives:
did not (didn’t) + base form (e.g., I didn’t go to the party).
- Questions:
Did + subject + base form (e.g., Did you see the movie?).
Key Difference
- Simple Present: Habits, routines, facts (now, always, usually).
- Simple Past: Completed actions in the past (yesterday, last week, two hours ago).