Present Tense
Verbs in English are used to show action, and the way we use them can tell a reader if an action happened in the past or is happening right now. To show an action is happening now, we use the present tense. Simple present tense uses just the verb and its form, or conjugation, to tell the reader what action is taking place. Read this article to better understand how English uses the three main tenses: present, past, and future. Then listen to the lesson on simple present tense and complete the exercises.
Brief Overview: Verb ConjugationWhen we change the spelling of a verb to form a tense (past, present, or future), it is referred to as conjugation. Most verbs will follow the following conjugation pattern: |
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Forming the Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is one of the most common tenses in English. There are only two basic conjugations for the simple present tense; one ends with -s and the other doesn't. Here are the rules, using the example verb "sing":
| Subject | Verb Conjugation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | verb | I sing |
| You | verb | You sing |
| He | verb + S | He sings |
| She | verb + S | She sings |
| It | verb + S | It sings |
| We | verb | We sing |
| They | verb | They sing |
Examples of simple present tense sentences:
- Ysabella is really good at getting others to open up.
- Marcela runs a car wash down the street from my house.
- Alejandra directs a play.
Exercise: Select the correct verb conjugation for the six sentences below. You will see the next question after you select an answer.
Source: University of Victoria, https://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/pres.htm
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.
Source: Lumen Learning, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/styleguide/chapter/verb-tenses/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Source: Saylor Academy
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.