This document provides an overview of English grammar, specifically focusing on the present simple tense. It defines the affirmative, interrogative, and negative forms of the present simple. It then explains six common uses of the present simple tense: 1) to talk about facts or things that are always true, 2) to talk about routines and habits, 3) when talking about timetable events in the future, 4) when discussing the plots of films, stories, and plays, 5) in newspaper headlines, and 6) when saying how often an action occurs, using words like always, usually, sometimes, etc. The document concludes with exercises asking the reader to change sentences into interrogative, negative, and other forms using the present simple tense

1. English Grammar
Kosrat H. Mustafa

2. Plan
 The Aim
 Sources
 Present Simple
• Form
•Use
 Exercises

3. The Aim
 General Aims
• To know English tenses.
• To be familiar with Present Simple.
 Specific Aims
• To control the form of Present Simple.
• To understand the situations in which Present Simple is used.

4. Present Simple
Affirmative
He/she/it drives/works/does etc.
We/you/they/I drive/work/do etc.
Interrogative
Does he/she/it drive/work/do?
Do we/you/they/I drive/work/do?
Negative
He/she/it does not (= doesn’t) drive/work/do etc.
We/you/they/I do not (=don’t) drive/work/do etc.

5. To Be
Be is a full verb when it combines with adjectives and nouns.
She/He/It/Tom/Ann is ill, happy, nice, beautiful, handsome, crazy,
I am long, short, delicious, tall, sad, kind, generous
They/we/you are new, old, young, wrinkly, etc.
She/He/It/Tom/Ann is a teacher, a doctor, a student, a boy, a vet, etc.
I am a teacher, a doctor, a student, a boy, a vet, etc.
you are a teacher, a doctor, a student, a boy, a vet, etc.
They/we/you are teachers, doctors, students, boys, vets, etc.

6. To Have
Have is a full verb when it is used to mean 'possess‘.
She/He/It/Tom/Ann has a car, two cars, a house, a laptop, a cat, a cow
I have a camera, a pen, a book, a coat, three maps,
They/we/you have a team, a family, etc.
He is handsome . (change she to they)
They are handsome. (question)
Are they handsome? (negative)
They aren’t handsome.
He has a car. (question)
Does he have a car?
They have a car. (question)
Do they have a car?

7. USE 1
PresentSimple
1-We use the present simple to talk about facts or things that are always true.
(Scientific truth, eternal truth)
• Water boils at 1000 C.
• Two and three make five.
• Male penguins keep the eggs warm.
• The earth goes round the sun.

8.  Emperor penguins live in the Antarctic.
• Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.
• The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
• It takes me five minutes to get to college.

9. • Hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water .
• Trees grow more quickly in summer than in winter
• It rains in winter, but it doesn’t rain very much in summer.

10. • Broken bones in adults don’t heal as fast as they do in children.
• British people drink a lot of tea, while Americans drink more coffee.

11. Present Simple
USE 2
2-We use the present simple to talk about routines and habits.
(Repeated actions)
• The birds return to the island every spring. (habit)
•Bill drinks heavily.
•Julian speaks five languages fluently.

12. • I always help my friends. (= I help my friends all of the time.)
• I usually go to bed very late. (=I usually have a late night.) (habit)
• I leave work at 5.30 most days. (routine)

13. • I sometimes lie in bed for 5-10 minutes but then I have to get up. (habit)
• Each July we go to Paris for a holiday.
• He runs the fastest. (It is his habit to run
the fastest.)

14. •They put salt on the sidewalk after it snows. (This habit occurs after every snow.)
• Everyday, I go to college at 8 o’clock except Thursday and Friday. (routine)

15. PresentSimple
USE 3
3-We use present simple when we talk about timetable events. (with the
future meaning)
• The train leaves for New York at eight o’clock tomorrow.
• The Drama Club meets every Thursday at 7.30.

16. • What time does the film begin?
• We usually watch the news on TV at 9.00.

17. PresentSimple
USE 4
4-We use present simple when we talk about plots of films, stories and plays.
(a series of events)
ROMEO AND JULIET
Two families, the Montagues and Capulets, live in
Verona, Italy, but they don’t get on with each other.
Romeo, son of Montague, thinks he is in love with
Rosaline, but unfortunately she does not love him. He
goes to see her at a party at the house of his enemy
Capulet, but there he sees Juliet, Capulet’s daughter.

18. ROMEO AND JULIET
• She doesn’t know his name because he has a mask.
Romeo manages to talk to her, and he kisses her. They
don’t understand that their families are enemies. When
Romeo learns the truth, he does not care that his love
for Juliet could be very dangerous. Later he goes back to
the house and stands in the garden. After he talks to
her, they soon show their love for each other, and agree
to get married. However, they do not realize that a
terrible tragedy is about to happen.

19. PresentSimple
USE 5
5-We use present simple in newspaper headlines.
• Japan and US start fresh talks
• GERMANY BACKS US PLAN

20. • POLICE DISCOVER KEY WITNESS
• BAD WEATHER HITS FARMERS
• BUSH BACKS NEW LAW

21. PresentSimple
USE 6
6- We use present simple when we say how often we do things, For example:
always, usually, frequently, often, sometimes, occasionally, seldom (=hardly ever
= rarely), never, once a day, twice a week, three times, every year, all the time.
• I occasionally see them.
• They hardly ever go to the cinema.

22. • She loses her glasses quite often.
• Sometimes my parents give me money.
• She seldom goes to conferences.

23. Do as required:
1- Summer follows spring . (interrogative)
Does summer follow spring?
2- My father works in a bank. (negative)
My father does not work in a bank.
3- I get up at 7 . (change I to He!)
He gets up at 7.
4- we sometimes stay up till midnight . (change we to Ann)
Ann sometimes stays up till midnight.
5- She visits her parents every day. (question and negative)
Does she visit her parents every day?
She does not visit her parents every day.
6- My sister wears glasses. (negative)
My sister doesn’t wear glasses.
7- John smokes a lot. (interrogative)
Does John smoke a lot?
Exercises

24. References
 Raymond Murphy English Grammar in Use.2nd ed. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
 Martin Hewings (1999) Advanced Grammar in Use. 1st ed. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
 Michael Vince (2007) Macmillan English Grammar in Context.
 Michael Swan & Catherine Walter The Good Grammar Book.
 Mark Foley & Diane Hall (2003) Longman Advanced Learner’s Grammar.
 Jonathan Lewis (2007) Free English Grammar.