🌱Basic·Lesson 8· 15 min

What I do every day: The Simple Present tense

I eat breakfast. He drinks tea. We work hard. The tense for habits, routines, and things that are always true.

👨🏽‍🏫
👋 Mr. Gee says

Most of what we say in life is about what we do every day. I wake up. I eat. I work. I sleep. This is the simple present tense. It is the most-used tense in English.

The story

My daily routine

I wake up at 5:30 every morning. I drink one cup of tea while my wife sleeps. I read the newspaper. At 7 I walk to the school. I teach until 1 o'clock. After that I have lunch.

In the afternoon, I rest. I read a book. I write in my notebook. In the evening, I visit a neighbour or my brother visits me. We talk. We laugh. We eat dinner together. By 9:30, I am asleep.

This is my routine. Every word in those paragraphs is in the simple present tense, because routines happen again and again. Every day. Every week. Every year.

1

How to form the simple present

Take the base verb. Use it as-is for I, you, we, they.

I work. You work. We work. They work.

For he, she, it, add 's' or 'es'.

He works. She works. It works.

Most verbs just add 's': eat → eats, walk → walks, read → reads.

Verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, -o add 'es': teach → teaches, wash → washes, kiss → kisses, fix → fixes, go → goes.

Verbs ending in consonant + y change y to ies: study → studies, try → tries, cry → cries.

Special: have → has (we saw this yesterday).

2

When to use it

Habits and routines: I drink coffee every morning.

Facts that are always true: The sun rises in the east.

Likes and dislikes: She loves music. He hates spinach.

Schedules: The bus comes at 7. The class starts at 9.

3

Words that go with simple present

These adverbs of frequency tell HOW OFTEN: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never.

I always drink tea in the morning.

She sometimes goes to the cinema.

We never eat meat.

Place them BEFORE the main verb. After 'to be': I am always tired.

Vocabulary list

The 10 words from this lesson

Click “Translate” below if you need any word in your own language.

wake upverbhe/she/it form: wakes up

Stop sleeping.

I wake up at 6.

He wakes up early.

eatverbhe/she/it form: eats

Put food in your mouth.

We eat lunch at 1.

workverbhe/she/it form: works

Do your job.

She works in a hospital.

sleepverbhe/she/it form: sleeps

Close your eyes and rest at night.

I sleep eight hours.

goverbhe/she/it form: goes

Move to a place.

He goes to school.

alwaysadverb

100% of the time.

I always brush my teeth.

usuallyadverb

Most of the time.

She usually wakes up at 7.

sometimesadverb

Now and then.

We sometimes eat outside.

neveradverb

0% of the time.

He never smokes.

everyadjective

Each one.

I read every morning.

Translation tip

Many languages do not have a separate 'simple present' tense the way English does. Some use the same form for 'I eat now' and 'I eat every day'. In English we DO have a separate form (present continuous for 'now' vs simple present for 'every day'). Tomorrow we'll see continuous.

Your turn

Practice prompts

Try these on paper or out loud. Mr. Gee's rule: practice today, do not save it for tomorrow.

  1. Write 5 sentences about your daily routine. (I wake up at..., I eat..., I work...)
  2. Write 3 sentences about your family with 'he', 'she', or 'they'. Don't forget the -s for he/she.
  3. Add an adverb of frequency to each: always, usually, sometimes, never. (I never drink coffee.)
  4. Translate your favourite routine paragraph into your language. Then back into English. See if it sounds natural.
Take this with you

Simple present = habits, facts, routines. Add 's' for he/she/it. Use frequency words: always, usually, sometimes, never. This is the most-used tense in English, so practise it daily.

👨🏽‍🏫
Mr. Gee's tip of the day

Read aloud every day. Even if it sounds funny. Your tongue needs practice.

Read this lesson in your language

Free, instant translation. Powered by Google Translate. Opens in a new tab.

Show more languages

Help someone else find this

This is free, no ads. Share with anyone preparing for the test.