GRAMMAR EXPLANTIONS

PRESENTATION no1

THE PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE

The Present Simple Tense

Paco likes sports

Paco likes sports a lot. He does sports to keep fit. He usually plays basketball with his friends at weekends and, from time to time, they go for a mountain bike ride. Paco enjoys cycling very much. They intend to do Saint James Way next year.

The Present Simple Tense

Positive: (+)

SUBJECT + I

VERB* play

+ OBJECT football.

*Third person singular s : (general rule) She plays football. he / she / it knows, starts, eats, lives, plays, reads, looks, obeys Exceptions: 1. Verbs ending -y (after a consonant) + ies e.g. study, carry, try, fly, cry. he / she / it studies / carries / tries / flies / cries 2. Verbs ending -ss, -sh , -ch, -x + -es e.g. kiss, wash, watch, mix. he/ she / it kisses, washes, watches, mixes 3. Verbs ending -o do, go he / she / it does, goes

The Present Simple Tense

Negative: (-)
SUBJECT + I DO / DOES + NOT + VERB + OBJECT dont play football.

He

doesnt play

football.

The Present Simple Tense

Interrogative: (?)
The interrogative structure in the Present Simple follows this pattern: Without an interrogative pronoun: DO / DOES + SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT OR COMPLEMENTS Do you play football? Does she play football? With an interrogative pronoun: WH + DO / DOES + SUBJECT + VERB ? What do you want to do? WH- PRONOUNS AND INTERROGATIVE PARTICLES: who, what , when, where, why, how, how much, how many, how often, what time, etc

The Present Simple Tense

The Present Simple Tense

USES We use the Present Simple to talk about:

Everyday activities
e.g. I go to school every day.

Habits and routines

e.g. I usually go out with my friends at weekends.

Permanent situations
e.g. I live in Caada del Hoyo.

Likes and dislikes

e.g. I love pizza. e.g. I hate studying.

Stative verbs
e.g. I feel very happy today.

The Present Simple Tense

Stative verbs
Verbs expressing states, possession, senses, emotions, and mental activities:
1. Verbs of senses (perception) smell, see, hear, taste, feel e.g. I smell something burning in the kitchen. 2. Mental processes (thoughts) know, believe, think, understand, mean, doubt e.g. She understands the principles of photosynthesis. 3. Possession possess, have, own, belong e.g. I have an allergy to cats.

4. Emotions, attitudes, opinions like, love, hate, desire, need, want e.g.The boy needs new clothes. 5. Measurement equal, measure, weigh, cost e.g. The shoes cost a lot of money.

Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of frequency go before any verb, except auxiliary verbs and the verb to be:

Paco never gets angry. V (ORDINARY VERB) Paco is always happy. V (AUX. VERB)

Other ways to express frequency

Adverbial phrases
once, twice, three times a day/week/month every morning/afternoon/day/week/month/year on Mondays/weekdays at weekends They go at the end of the sentence: e.g. I do my homework every afternoon. or at the beginning followed by a comma: e.g. Every afternoon, I do my homework.