Simple present
| Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|
| I play | I do not (don’t) play |
| you play | you do not (don’t) play |
| he / she / it plays | he / she / it does not (doesn’t) play |
| we / you / they play | we / you / they do not (don’t) play |
| Questions | Short answers | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Negative | |
| Do I play? | Yes, you do. | No, you don’t. |
| Do you play? | Yes, I do. | No, I don’t. |
| Does he / she / it play? | Yes, he / she / it does. | No, he / she / it doesn’t. |
| Do we / you / they play? | Yes, we / you / they do. | No, we / you / they don’t. |
1 We use the simple present to talk about:
habits and daily routines.
I get up at half past seven.
permanent situations.
They live in Milford, and they work in Tysoe.
2 We often use the simple present with adverbs of frequency to say how often something happens.
100% 0%
always usually often sometimes rarely never
I usually do my homework in the afternoon.
Other expressions of frequency are:
every day / weektwice a day / week
once a day / weekthree times a day / week
Spelling variations
1 We make the third person singular with the base form of the verb + -s.
like + -s likes
2 We use the base form of the verb + -es when the verb ends in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, -z, or -o.
he teaches she goes it washes
3 When the verb ends in a consonant + -y, we change the -y to -i and add -es.
she studies he flies
4 When the verb ends in a vowel + -y, we add -s.
he plays
Present progressive
| Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|
| I am (’m) playing | I am not (’m not) playing |
| you are (’re) playing | you are not (aren’t) playing |
| he / she / it is (’s) playing | he / she / it is not (isn’t) playing |
| we / you / they are (’re) playing | we / you / they are not (aren’t) playing |
| Questions | Short answers | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Negative | |
| Am I playing? | Yes, you are. | No, you aren’t. |
| Are you playing? | Yes, I am. | No, I’m not. |
| Is he / she / it playing? | Yes, he / she / it is. | No, he / she / it isn’t. |
| Are we / you / they playing? | Yes, we / you / they are. | No, we / you / they aren’t. |
1 We use the present progressive to talk about something that is happening now.
Marisol is talking to her mom at the moment.
2 We also use the present progressive to describe temporary events that are happening during a definite period, for example, today, this week, this month, etc.
Yuki’s concert is in June, so he’s practicing a lot this month.
Spelling variations
1 For most verbs, we add -ing to the base form.
play + -ing = playing walk + -ing = walking
2 When the verb ends in -e, we drop the -e and add -ing.
have ➜ having
3 For short verbs ending in a vowel plus a consonant, we double the final consonant and add -ing.
sit ➜ sitting
4 Travel is irregular.
travel ➜ traveling
| Possessive adjectives | Possessive pronouns |
|---|---|
| my | mine |
| your | yours |
| his / her / its | his / hers / – |
| our | ours |
| your | yours |
| their | theirs |
1 Possessive adjectives come before a noun.
my iPad your cell phone
2 Possessive pronouns substitute a possessive adjective and a noun.
It’s my violin. = It’s mine.
3 We often use possessive pronouns to avoid repeating.
This is my book. That’s yours.
Regular adverbs
| Adjective | Adverb | |
|---|---|---|
| quick | + -ly | quickly |
| quiet | quietly | |
| beautiful | beautifully | |
| easy | -y to -i + -ly | easily |
| fantastic | + -ally | fantastically |
1 We use adverbs of manner to talk about how we do something. They change what the verb means.
Pablo plays guitar beautifully.
2 Adverbs of manner always come after a verb or after an object.
subject + verb + (object) + adverb of manner
Maria speaks (to him) quietly.
3 We make adverbs of manner by adding -ly to the adjective.
bad ➜ badly
slow ➜ slowly
Spelling variations
1 When the adjective ends in a -y, we change the -y to -i and add -ly.
easy ➜ easily
noisy ➜ noisily
2 When the adjective ends in -ic, we add -ally.
fantastic ➜ fantastically
Irregular adverbs
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
| good | well |
| early | early |
| late | late |
| fast | fast |
1 Irregular adjectives do not follow any rules. You have to learn each form separately.
Tina plays the guitar well.