The present simple, part 1 of 6

Present Simple Affirmative: I, You, We, They

With I, you, we, and they the verb stays in its dictionary form: I work, they live. Nothing is added.

The idea

What the present simple is

It is the form for what usually happens or is true: your routines, your likes, where you live. It does not talk about one moment, but about how things are.

It repeats. What you do often, even if not right now: We eat out on Fridays.
It is true today. Facts that will not change soon: They live in Chile.
It is not for this moment, there is another tense for that: I work here (in general), not right now.

When to use it

For routines, habits, likes, and things that are true, not for what is happening right now. These expressions go with it:

With every

every day
every morning
every week
every summer

With on, in, and at

on Mondays
on weekends
in the morning
at night

How often

always
usually
sometimes
never

Examples

A routine
I get up at six.
Where you live
We live in Guadalajara.
A like
They love spicy food.
A fact
You know a lot about cars.
Your job
I teach math at a high school.

How to build it

3 steps

Say who does itIn a normal sentence the subject always goes first:We
Add the verb as it isThe dictionary form, with no -s and no -ing:We cook
Finish with the restWhat, where, or when; when usually goes at the end:We cook at home on Sundays.

Affirmative

Subject (I, you, we, they)They
base verbspeak
complementtwo languages.

The rule

The same verb with all four

Subject	English	Meaning
I	I work from home.	the speaker
You	You work a lot.	the listener (one or many)
We	We work together.	the speaker and others
They	They work at night.	other people

How to pronounce it

live
/lɪv/
A short, relaxed i: /ɪ/.
work
/wɝk/
The or sounds like /ɝ/, as in bird.
speak
/spik/
Start with s directly, with no vowel before it.

Check

My parents (blank) in Puebla. Which word goes in the blank?

Don't confuse it with he, she, it

They play the piano.

They: base verb

She plays the piano.

She: verb + -s

With I, you, we, and they the verb stays the same. With he, she, and it you add an -s.

Part 2: he, she, it

In real life

For what is happening right now you do not use the present simple: I work means in general, and I am working means right now. That difference has its own lesson.

Frequently asked questions

What is the present simple used for?

For what you usually do (I cook on Sundays), what you like (I love jazz), and what is true (Cats sleep a lot). It is not for what is happening right now.

Why does the verb hardly change in the present simple?

Because English lost almost all its verb endings centuries ago. Only the -s for he, she, and it is left, which you see in part 2 of this series.

Can you leave out the subject in English?

In a normal sentence, no. Eat is the same for I, you, we, and they, so without the subject nobody knows who eats.

In short

Routines, likes, and facts go in the present simple: I work every day.
With I, you, we, and they the verb stays as it is: they live.
In a normal sentence the subject always goes in: We cook.
The -s is only for he, she, and it: she works (part 2).

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