The simple present tense is also called the present indefinite tense in English Grammar. It is one of the most frequent and important tenses in English, especially when we relate a story. Stories are often related in the simple present or simple past tense.
USAGES
The simple present tense is used to express a repeated action that indicates the past, present, and future. Repeated actions are permanent situations or things that happen regularly or all the time but it doesn't mean right now.
Example:
How does Mike earn living?
He teaches English in the school.
The verb "teaches" is the simple present tense. It indicates Mike's activities in the past, present, and future. Here "teaching English" is a repeated action. He taught English in the past, is teaching English now, and will teach English in the future. So repeated action is the action that we do daily. We begin such actions in the past, continue to do them in the present, and will do them in the future. We don't know for how long these actions will continue in the future.
The simple present tense is used to indicate habitual actions. It is also like a repeated action but habitual and repeated actions are different though both have to be done.
Example:
She smokes.
It does not mean that the action is taking place right now. It doesn't happen at the moment but shows habit and we know that habit comes from the past, is there in the present, and often continues in the future.
But a question arises here what is the difference between a repeated action and a habitual action? Habitual is also a repeated action. We do both actions daily at a particular time but repeated action can easily be avoided whereas habitual action can't be avoided easily despite its harm if it is a negative habit. A child may become happy if his parents stop him from going to school which is a repeated action. But if he is stopped from a habit, he may become upset and resist stopping. Habit can also be said as a personal trait. Its benefit or harm is limited to a person's self but repeated action relates to society or to the people around you. You work or interact with them and so repeated action comes into being. So both actions have to be done and both are obligations but the difference is what we have explained in the above lines.
The simple present tense is used with the word "say" when we talk about notices / recently received letters, when we quote from books, etc.
Examples:
a. He says (in the letter) he is visiting me next month.
b. "Everything is fair in love and war", says Shakespeare.
c. A notice at the end of the road warns people not to go further. The road is under construction.
In the above examples, we see how simple present tense is used referring to notices, recently received letters, and quotes with the help of the word "say".
The simple present tense is used in newspaper headlines.
Example:
PM urges the world to undue climate injustice.
The action "urge" occurred in past. The PM's debut speech at the UN General Assembly was held in the past in which he urged the world to undo the climate injustice but the heading is given in simple present tense. It may be noted that the action occurred in the recent past.
The simple past tense is used to express universal truth.
Example:
The sun rises in the east.
We all know that this action has been taking place since this whole system came into being. It is the same course of action and will follow until this system ends. The universal truth is the truth that can't be rejected anywhere in the world.
The simple present tense expresses the action in the actual current movement.
Examples:
a. The meat smells bad (at this time).
b. The boss declares the meeting closed.
c. The party leader apologizes for the trouble.
In the above examples, the actions are taking place right at the actual present moment.
The simple present tense is sometimes used to describe an activity in progress at the movement of speaking. It is mainly used in demonstrations, descriptions, or explanations. It is done when a cook shows someone how something is cooked or when a teacher is performing some experiment etc.
Example:
How to cook the Roma Sauce?
Pour three tablespoons of oil into a large pan. Slice two onions. Put the onions and some garlic in the oil. Cook the onions and garlic for three minutes. Add two pounds (about one kilo) of ground meat. Cook the meat and onions for ten minutes. Add one small can of tomato paste, one large can of tomatoes, and two cups of water. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, oregano, and basil.
Mmmm! it smells delicious. Now cook the sauce for one hour. Serve the sauce on spaghetti with grated cheese.
In the above example, we use the simple present tense though the action is actually in progress and happening in the actual moment.
The simple present tense is used in commentaries. For instance, commentary during a football match or any other sporting event.
Examples:
Mike passes the ball to Bob, and Bob passes it to Gino who beat the goalkeeper and scores a goal.
Now here in this example, the action is taking place at the moment of speaking but we use the simple present tense to describe events of brief duration. But if someone asks about the player Mike what is Mike doing? We use the present progressive tense to answer. For example, he is playing football on the ground.
Here are some more examples:
- Here comes the bus!
- There she goes!
- There goes the bell!
The simple present tense is used to express planned future actions.
Example:
The train leaves the station at 3:00 o'clock tomorrow.
In the above example, it is very clear that the action is taking place in the future but simple present tense is used because it is a planned action.
The simple present tense is used when we give directions.
Example:
You walk up Main Street to Station Road. There is a traffic light at the corner. You turn right and walk two blocks to University Street. Turn left and then you take the first street. Then right on Ocean Avenue, the library is on the right.
The simple present tense is used for informal narrations and in summaries of stories or plays.
Example:
Othello meets Desdemona's father in Act 1.
For telling or writing stories or summaries of the stories and plays, we usually use the simple present tense. The simple past tense is also used for telling stories.
The simple present tense is used in introductory expressions such as I hear, I see, I understand, etc. with perfect or past meaning.
Examples:
I hear he's migrating to the USA.
I see there has been trouble in the assembly session.
The simple present tense is used for general facts and statements.
Examples:
I am a student.
My name is Lisa.
She is a teacher.
The "verb to be" is an exception in the simple present tense. It has its own forms in the simple present tense. They are "am, is, are".
STRUCTURE
Like its name, the structure is fairly simple.
Positive or Affirmative Sentence
Adela cooks Mexican food.
Formula:
Subject + Base form of verb + Object.
In the above sentence, the word "Adela" is the subject, "cooks" is the verb, and the word "Mexican food" is the object.
We can see the letter "s" has been added with the base form of the verb "cook" in the above sentence. It is very important to know when to add "s" or "es" with the base form of the verb in the simple present tense. So remember when the subject of a sentence in the simple present tense is third person singular i.e. he, she, it, and name, then we add "s" or "es" with the base form of the verb.
Which to add, "s" or "es"?
- If a verb ends in s, ss, o, x, sh, or ch, we add "es" with the verb in the simple present tense, and the rest of the verbs take only "s" but remember we add it when the subject is third person singular in the simple present tense otherwise we don't add anything to the verb to make a sentence in the simple present tense.
Negative Sentence
Adela does not cook Mexican food.
Formula:
Subject + do/does + not + Base form of verb + Object.
To make a negative sentence in the simple present tense, we add the "do not or does not" just before the verb. The order of other words remains the same as that of a positive sentence.
When to use "do" and when to use "does"?
Again if the subject of the sentence is third person singular, we use "does" to make a negative sentence in the simple present tense and if the subject is not third person singular, then we use "do" to make a negative sentence in the simple present tense.
"Do" and "does"| are the same words. In fact, "do" becomes "does" when we take the letter "s" or "es" from the verb and add it with the word "do" just like in the sentence "Adela cooks Mexican food" becomes "Adela does not cook Mexican food". In the sentence, we see how we took the letter "s" from the verb "cook" and add it to the word "do" which became "does". So when "does" is used, then we don't use "s" or "es" with the ver.
Interrogative Sentence
Does Adela cook Mexican food?
Formula:
Do/does + Subject + Base form of verb + Object.
To make the interrogative sentence, we just put "do" or "does" before the subject. Again if the subject is third person singular, put "does" before the subject otherwise put "do" before the subject to make the interrogative sentence in the simple present tense.
Negative Interrogative Sentence
Doesn't Adela cook Mexican food?
Does Adela not cook Mexican food?
Formula:
Do/ does + not + Subject + Base form of verb + Object.
Do/ does + Subject + not + Base form of verb + Object.
The negative interrogative sentences can be made in two ways. If the word "not" is contracted with the auxiliary verb, then it comes before the subject and if it is not contracted, then the word "not" comes after the subject to make a negative interrogative sentence. In the first sentence, the word "not" has been contracted with the auxiliary verb while in the second sentence, it has been used in expanded form and that's why it has been put after the subject of the sentence.
RECOGNITION IN URDU
Examples:
Recognition in Urdu is very important. It helps a lot in translation. If you don't know the tense of a sentence, you will be unable to translate it.