I Swear English › Verb Tenses › Present Simple Tense
How to form and use the present simple tense
How To Form The Present Simple:
To form the present simple use a subject and a compliment. For the third person singular of the affirmative add 's' to the compliment. For negatives use the auxiliary verb do + not for all persons except the third person singular, which uses does not. For questions invert the positions of the subject and the auxiliary verb. The following table shows how it is done:
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|---|
| I live | I do not live | Do I live? |
| You live | You do not live | Do you live? |
| He lives | He does not live | Does he live? |
| She lives | She does not live | Does she live? |
| It lives | It does not live | Does it live? |
| We live | We do not live | Do we live? |
| You live | You do not live | Do you live? |
| They live | They do not live | Do they live? |
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Video transcript
Hi, how to form the present simple: It's easy, take a subject, I for example. Then put your verb in the infinitive without to or the compliment. So, for example the verb to live: Present simple positive: I live. Second person: you live. Third person: he/she/it lives. In the third person you must add the letter 's'. People always forget this 's'. I don't know why but it's easy to forget. First person plural: we live. We live, you live, they live. To make negatives put do not after the subject. So, I do not live or contracted I don't live. You do not live, you don't live. He/she/it doesn't live. No 's' on the live, that 's' is in the does or in the doesn't/does not. We do not live, you do not live, they do not live. To make questions invert the position of the subject and the does or the do. So to make a question: Do you live? or where do you live? Where do I live? Where does he,she or it live? Where do we live? Where do you live? Where do they live? So that's the way to form the present simple. In the next video you will see when to use the present simple. So, see you in a minute.
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