SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes)

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE IS USED:

To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth)
To give instructions or directions:
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
To express fixed arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00
To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

Be careful! The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.

DAILY ROUTINES

Daily Activities at Home COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE DAILY ROUTINES FROM THE BOX

What are some of the daily activities that you do at home?

wake up / press the snooze button / turn off the alarm / do their homework / watch the News / make dinner / get into my pyjamas / take the rubbish out / go to bed

make breakfast / comb my hair / brushes her long hair / do your hair / turn off the lights

get up / have a cup of coffee / put make-up on / brush your teeth / read the newspaper

I __________at 7am every morning.

I __________________five times every morning before I _______________and_________.

I ___________________and____________. I usually __________________while I have breakfast. My children like to have a shower after they have breakfast but I like to have a shower before I get dressed.

My wife________________, and I have short hair so I______________. How do you ___________in the morning?

It is important to______________, and some women like to________________.

After I have finished work, I go home to cook dinner. In my house I usually____________. The family eat dinner together at 7:30pm.

After dinner I make sure that my children________________, and then I chill out on the sofa and watch television.

On television I usually______________. My wife usually comes to tell me to________________, or wash the dishes.

Our children feed the dog and the cat before they ________and I tell them to go to the bathroom too.

If I am sick I have to take my medication, but then I __________________and set the alarm so I wake up in the morning.

The last things I do is lock the door, _____________, and go to bed.

It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.

Daily Activities at Work

What are some daily activities that you do at work?

I go to work at 8.45am every morning.

I usually drive to work.

I always check my emails when I get to work, but I don't always reply to them immediately.

I take a taxi or a train if I have a lunch meeting. I never take the bus because it is too slow.

When I am at my desk I usually work on the computer, even during morning tea.

At 1pm most days I have lunch.

At 3pm we have afternoon tea, and that is when we usually talk and eat cake.

When you are in the office you probably have a lot of papers. It is important for you to file your papers, and so that you can find them again you need to organise your files.

When I work I have to make telephone calls. If an important issue happens I ask my secretary to organise a meeting.

Once a month I report to my boss, but maybe you have to report to your boss more often. I usually write a document that my boss can read.

Other Daily Activities

What are some other daily activities that you do?

I exercise at least three times a week.

I usually go to the gym before work, but sometimes I go after work.

I meditate every morning so that I feel less stressed during the day.

Weekly Activities UNDERLINE THE ROUTINE IN THE SENTENCES BELOW

What are some weekly activities that you do?

I go grocery shopping once a week at the local supermarket.

My family does the housework together every Saturday morning.

I usually do the washing on Sunday morning and when the machine is finished I hang the clothes out to dry.

On Sunday morning we go to church, and if there is lots of noise coming from next door, sometimes we fight with the neighbour.

On Saturday night my parents stay at home and I go out with friends.

Even my friends that live at home call their parents each week.

Every evening, I water the garden.

I usually pay someone to wash the car, but my partner says I should do it, so sometimes I argue with my partner about that.

If we are angry at the neighbour, we seek vengeance by annoying his dogs.

I work in an important office, so I have to shine my shoes each day.

Sometimes we hire a movie, because we don't like to illegally download music and films. I make sure that I synchronise my iPod so I always have new music on it.

To get our shopping, we go to the mall in the car.

Last week I forgot to recharge my travel card, and I had to argue with a bus driver. I couldn't call the office because I forgot to recharge my cellphone!

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

English Grammar Rules

We use some adverbs to describe how frequently we do an activity.

These are called adverbs of frequency and include:

Frequency

Adverb of Frequency

Example Sentence

100%

always

I always go to bed before 11 p.m.

90%

usually

I usually have cereal for breakfast.

80%

normally / generally

I normally go to the gym.

70%

often* / frequently

I often surf the internet.

50%

sometimes

I sometimes forget my wife's birthday.

30%

occasionally

I occasionally eat junk food.

10%

seldom

I seldom read the newspaper.

5%

hardly ever / rarely

I hardly ever drink alcohol.

0%

never

I never swim in the sea.

* Some people pronounce the 'T' in often but many others do not.

These are also known as Adverbs of INDEFINITE frequency as the exact frequency is not defined.

The Position of the Adverb in a Sentence

An adverb of frequency goes before a main verb (except with To Be).

Subject + adverb + main verb

I always remember to do my homework.

He normally gets good marks in exams.

An adverb of frequency goes after the verb To Be.

Subject + to be + adverb

They are never pleased to see me.

She isn't usually bad tempered.

* When we use an auxiliary verb (have, will, must, might, could, would, can, etc.), the adverb is placed between the auxiliary and the main verb. This is also true for to be.

Subject + auxiliary + adverb + main verb

She can sometimes beat me in a race.

I would hardly ever be unkind to someone.

They might never see each other again.

They could occasionally be heard laughing.

* We can also use the following adverbs at the start of a sentence:

Usually, normally, often, frequently, sometimes, occasionally

Occasionally, I like to eat Thai food.

BUT we cannot use the following at the beginning of a sentence:

Always, seldom, rarely, hardly, ever, never.

We use hardly ever and never with positive, not negative verbs:

She hardly ever comes to my parties.

They never say 'thank you'.

We use ever in questions and negative statements:

Have you ever been to New Zealand?

I haven't ever been to Switzerland. (The same as 'I have never been Switzerland').

EXERCISES

He listens to the radio. (often)

They read a book. (sometimes)

Pete gets angry. (never)

Tom is very friendly. (usually)

I take sugar in my coffee. (sometimes)

Ramon and Frank are hungry. (often)

My grandmother goes for a walk in the evening. (always)

Walter helps his father in the kitchen. (usually)

They watch TV in the afternoon. (never)

Christine smokes. (never)

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