Present Simple Tense

Present Simple Tense

Simple Present Tense

How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		do		base

There are three important exceptions:

1.            For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.

2.            For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.

3.            For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

How do we use the Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present tense when:

• the action is general
• the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
• the action is not only happening now
• the statement is always true

Look at these examples:

• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We meet every Thursday.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?

Form of the Simple Present Tense

We add -s or -es to the base form of the verb in the third person singular.
I work >
You work >
He works >
She works >
It works > in an office.
We work >
You work >
They work >
Uses of the Simple Present Tense
Permanent truths
We use the Simple Present for statements that are always true:

·         Summer follows spring. Gases expand when heated.

'The present period'
We use the Simple Present to refer to events, actions or situations which are true in the present period of time and which, for all we know, may continue indefinitely. What we are saying, in effect, is 'this is the situation as it stands at present':

·         My father works in a bank. My sister wears glasses.

Habitual actions
The Simple Present can be used with or without an adverb of time to describe habitual actions, things that happen repeatedly:

·         I get up at 7. John smokes a lot.

We can be more precise about habitual actions by using the Simple Present with adverbs of indefinite frequency (always, never, etc.) or with adverbial phrases such as every day:

·         I sometimes stay up till midnight.

·         She visits her parents every day.

We commonly use the Simple Present to ask and answer questions which begin with How often?:

·         How often do you go to the dentist? - I go every six months.

Questions relating to habit can be asked with ever and answered with never:

·         Do you ever eat meat? - No, I never eat meat.

Future reference
This use is often related to timetables and programmes or to events in the calendar:

·         The exhibition opens on January 1st and closes on January 31st.

·         The concert begins at 7.30 and ends at 9.30.

·         We leave tomorrow at 11.15 and arrive at 17.50.

·         Wednesday, May 24th marks our 25th wedding anniversary.

Observations and declarations
We commonly use the Simple Present with stative and other verbs to make observations and declarations in the course of conversation: e.g.

·         I hope/assume/suppose/promise everything will be all right.

·         I bet you were nervous just before your driving test.

·         It says here that the police expect more trouble in the city.

·         I declare this exhibition open.

·         I see/hear there are roadworks in the street again.

·         I love you. I hate him.

·         We live in difficult times. - I agree.

Simple Present Tense in adverbial clauses of time: 'no future after temporals'
When the time clause refers to the future, we normally use the simple present after after, as soon as, before, by the time, directly, immediately, the moment, till, until and when where we might expect a Simple Future.

·         The Owens will move to a new flat when their baby is born.

·         I will go to the cinema after I finish my homework.

·         You will get the dessert as soon as you finish your dinner.

Preposition

The Preposition

Recognize a preposition when you see one.

Prepositions are the words that indicate location. Usually, prepositions show this location in the physical world. Check out the three examples below

 

On, in, and beside are all prepositions. They are showing where the puppy is. Prepositions can also show location in time. Read the next three examples:

At midnight, Jill craved mashed potatoes with grape jelly.

In the spring, I always vow to plant tomatoes but end up buying them at the supermarket.

During the marathon, Iggy's legs complained with sharp pains shooting up his thighs.

At midnight, in the spring, and during the marathon all show location in time.

Because there are so many possible locations, there are quite a few prepositions. Below is the complete list.

What is a Preposition?

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.

The book is beneath the table.

The book is leaning against the table.

The book is beside the table.

She held the book over the table.

She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.

A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without."

Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition:

The children climbed the mountain without fear.

In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.

There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.

Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.

The spider crawled slowly along the banister.

The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.

The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.

Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding."

The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office.

Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in his office," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers.

 

Understand how to form a prepositional phrase.

Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases look like this:

preposition + optional modifiers + noun, pronoun, or gerund

Here are some examples:

At school

At = preposition; school = noun.

According to us

According to = preposition; us = pronoun.

By chewing

By = preposition; chewing = gerund.

Under the stove

Under = preposition; the = modifier; stove = noun.

In the crumb-filled, rumpled sheets

In = preposition; the, crumb-filled, rumpled = modifiers; sheets = noun.

Realize that some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions.

Some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions. These prepositions are after, as, before, since, and until. A subordinate conjunction will have both a subject and a verb following it, forming a subordinate clause.

Look at these examples:

After Sam and Esmerelda kissed goodnight

After = subordinate conjunction; Sam, Esmerelda = subjects; kissed = verb.

As Jerome buckled on the parachute

As = subordinate conjunction; Jerome = subject; buckled = verb.

Before I eat these frog legs

Before = subordinate conjunction; I = subject; eat = verb.

Since we have enjoyed the squid eyeball stew

Since = subordinate conjunction; we = subject; have enjoyed = verb.

Until your hiccups stop

Until = subordinate conjunction; hiccups = subject; stop = verb.

If you find a noun [with or without modifiers] following one of these five prepositions, then all you have is a prepositional phrase. Look at these examples:

After the killer calculus test

After = preposition; the, killer, calculus = modifiers; test = noun.

As a good parent

As = preposition; a, good = modifiers; parent = noun.

Before dinner

Before = preposition; dinner = noun.

Since the breakup

Since = preposition; the = modifier; breakup = noun.

Until midnight

Until = preposition; midnight = noun.

ข้อที่ 1)
The book is ...................... the schoolbag?
   on
   in
   in front of
   between

---

ข้อที่ 2)
John sits ............................... Peter and Sam?
   under
   over
   between
   near

---

ข้อที่ 3)
Our teacher prohibited us ...........................smoking?
   from
   into
   at
   about

---

ข้อที่ 4)
Amy wrote a letter ............................her friends.
   in
   to
   along
   among

---

ข้อที่ 5)
He stands............................the tree.
   down
   over
   inside
   under

Auxiliary verb

Auxiliary Verbs

What are auxiliary verbs?

1.      Auxiliary verbs (sometimes known as helping verbs) are verbs that are used to assist the verb.

2.      Auxiliary verbs can not be used without a main verb.

3.      Auxiliary verbs can not be used with modal verbs.

4.      Auxiliary verbs are used to make sentences negative.

5.      Auxiliary verbs are used to ask questions.

6.      Auxiliary verbs are used in the sentence structure of the verb sentence.

1.      The 3 most common auxiliary verbs are:

§                         Do - Does - Did

§                         Do is used with the present simple tense. Do-Does are used as part of the sentence structure for negative statements/sentences with the present simple tense

§                         Do- Does are used as part of the sentence structure for questions, with the present simple tense.

§                         Did is used with the past simple tense.

§                         Did is used as part of the sentence structure for negative statements/sentences with the past simple tense

§                         Did is used as part of the sentence structure for questions, with the past simple tense.

§                         Be - Am - Is - Are -Was - Were

§                         Have - Has -Had

DO', 'BE' and 'HAVE' are the English auxiliary verbs used in a negative structure, a question or to show tense.

DESCRIPTIONS OF ENGLISH AUXILIARY VERBS:

1. 'DO', 'DON'T', 'DOES' and 'DOESN'T' are used for questions and negatives in the Present Simple Tense, and 'DID' and 'DIDN'T' are used in the Past Simple Tense.

2. 'BE' is used with the Present Participle in Continuous (Progressive) Verbs. It is also used with the Past Participle in the Passive.

3. 'HAVE' is used with the Past Participle to form the Perfect Aspect.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are used together with a main verb to give grammatical information and therefore add extra meaning to a sentence. Information that is not given by the main verb.

They are used to form the passive voice.

They are used to form the continuous tense.

They are used to form the perfect tense.

Be, Do and Have are auxiliary verbs, they are irregular verbs and can be used as main verbs. The verbs 'to be' and 'to have' are the most commonly used auxiliary verbs and work alongside the main verbs in any statement.

Modal verbs are also auxiliary verbs, but will be treated separately, these are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would, they differ from the others in that they can never function as a main verb.