The Present Tense The Present Tense is a grammatical tense that expresses a situation or an event in the present time. In English, the Present Tense form may be used to: • express an action in the present. • a current state of being. In other words, the Present Tense is used to discuss permanent situations and the frequency of events.
The Present Tense: Habitual actions (also known as: The Present Indefinite General truths Tense or The Simple Present Tense) (1st column verbs) He She walks It
I We walk (no s) They You Negatives: He does not walk. He doesn’t walk.
They do not walk. They don’t walk. Questions: Does he walk?
Do they walk? Passive Voice: He is taught.
They are taught. Time Words: every day every week every month every year once a day/week/month/year sometimes often seldom usually frequently never ever invariably always
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Exercise:
Underline/circle the correct verb in each of the following sentences. Take note that these sentences are written in the Present Tense. Look at the specific time words used in these sentences.
1. Susan (go/goes) to school every day.
2. The boys often (run/runs) to school when they (is/are) late.
3. Sally (give/gives) her dog food and water once a day.
4. You always (forget/forgets) to take your lunch box with you when you
(leave/leaves) for work.
5. Sometimes when the children (play/plays) hide-and-go-seek, James (hide/hides)
in the closet.
6. New Year (is/are) celebrated on the 1st of January every year.
7. Every day the sun (rise/rises) in the east and (set/sets) in the west.
8. We (go/goes) to the shopping mall once a week.
9. John always (hand/hands) in his school projects and homework on time.
10. It never (rain/rains) during the winter season.
11. Usually the telephone (ring/rings) when I (leave/leaves) the office.
12. The bus (arrive/arrives) at 8 o’clock every morning.
13. (Do/Does) he (walk/walks) to school every day?
14. Tammy (do/does) not often (fight/fights) with her younger sister.
15. (Do/Does) they frequently (meet/meets) each other at a restaurant for lunch?
16. We (do/does) not always (win/wins) the game.
17. Henry (like/likes) to make himself boiled eggs and toast for breakfast every
morning before he (go/goes) to school.
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18. The girls never (take/takes) a cab to school, but always (ride/rides) on their
bicycles.
19. (Do/Does) you sometimes play football with your younger brother?
20. Peter often (sing/sings) songs when he (is/are) helping his mother with her
household chores.
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