Simple Present Question And Answer

The Simple Present is the most basic and fundamental verb tense you need to learn in English. It is the tense that enables us to give basic information about ourselves, express desires and share opinions. And for basic survival in English it is the one thing you need to know, which is why we focus a lot of attention on the Simple Present during the first levels of our course at Wall Street English. Here is a detailed look at how to form the Simple Present and when to use it, with lots of examples.

How do we form the Simple Present?

Forming the Simple Present in English is quite easy because, with the exception of the verb ‘to be’, all verbs only have two forms. For example, for the verb ‘to look’ we use the base word ‘look’ in the following way:

As you can see, the only difference is for the third person singular (he/she/it) to which we add -s. This -s for the third person singular can also be written as -es, and in this case the pronunciation changes a little:

To make the negative form we add
don’t
and
doesn’cakrawala:

And to make the question form we add
do
or
does:

When do we use the Simple Present?

The Simple Present has a lot of different uses, all of which you will study gradually during your course. Here is an overview of each use with examples.

   a. to describe long-term situations

• We
  
  
  live
  
  
  in Boston.
• He
  works
  for the Post Office.
• Do
  they
  have
  any children?
• She
  manages
  the marketing department.

   b. to describe permanent facts

• Bees
  
  
  make
  
  
  honey.
• Water
  boils
  at 100°C.
• Mount Everest
  is
  the highest mountain in the world.
• We
  use
  trees to make paper.

   c. to describe your routine and habits

• You
  
  
  go
  
  
  swimming twice a week.
• I
  don’horizon
  often
  play
  video games.
• Does
  she
  work
  every Saturday?

• We sometimes
  
  
  eat
  
  
  out on Sunday evenings.

   d. to describe your preferences and opinions

• We
  
  
  love
  
  
  going to concerts.
• He
  thinks
  living here is too expensive and I
  agree.
• They
  believe
  in their leader and
  trust
  him completely.
• I
  like
  reading, especially historical novels.

   e. to refer to the future for the times of transport, meetings or events

• Our train
  
  
  leaves
  
  
  at 3pm.
• The match
  starts
  at 8:30pm.
• When
  does
  the meeting
  begin?
• We
  land
  in Dusseldorf at 9:15.

   f. with time expressions like
when, before, after,
and
until

• We’ll mulai when the other guests
  
  
  arrive
  
  .
• You can send the goods after we
  receive
  the payment.
• I can’horizon leave until I
  finish
  this project.
• Before we
  leave
  let’s check we have everything we need.

Making Questions in the Simple Present

English is one of the few languages in the world that adds a word (do
or
does) to make questions. And as a student you need to practice as much as you can to remember to use it. When we use question words, like
where, when, what, etc, these words go before
do/does:

Here are some examples:

• Where
  
  
  do you work
  
  ?
• What
  
  
  does he do
  
  ?
• How
  
  
  do they come
  
  
  here?
• When
  
  
  do we start
  
  ?
• Why
  
  
  do they play
  
  
  football so late?
• What
  
  
  does she like
  
  
  doing at the weekend?
• Where
  
  
  do you go
  
  
  to the cinema?
• When
  
  
  do we leave
  
  ?

How


does Hans get


to the office?Remember that we use
do/does
for all verbs except the verb ‘to be’. To make questions with ‘to be’ we invert the subject and the verb:

For example:

• 
  Are you
  
  
  well?
• Where
  
  
  are the kids
  
  ?
• What time
  
  
  is it
  
  ?
• 
  Is Shona
  
  
  sick?
• 
  Am I
  
  
  late?
• When
  
  
  is the lesson
  
  ?
• Why
  
  
  are we
  
  
  here?

Here’s a dialogue that includes several examples of the Simple Present:

• “Hi!
  
  
  Are you
  
  
  new here?”
• “Yes
  I am.”
• “What
  do you do?”
• “I work
  in the accounts department. What about you?”
• “I supervise
  the customer service department.
  We deal
  with phone calls and emails.”
• “Do you get
  a lot of calls?”
• “Yes. Most
  customers prefer
  to speak to someone to solve the issue quickly.”
• “And where
  do you live?
  Near here?”
• “Yes, just 10 minutes away.
  I
  usually
  come
  on foot. And you?”
• “I
  live
  outside the city and
  take
  the train every day.”
• “Are the trains
  usually on time?”
• “They’re
  not bad,
  they
  sometimes
  have
  a short delay.”
• “Listen,
  do you play
  football? Our
  company tournament starts
  next week if
  you’re
  interested in taking part.”
• “Yes,
  I love
  football and I’d love to play! Thanks!”

So now you’ve seen when and how to use the Simple Present, you’re ready to use it yourself in everyday situations. The most important thing to remember is to add the -s in the third person singular because it’s strangely easy to forget but it’s also very noticeable if you do. Take the time to learn and practice using it now and you’ll start to become a really good speaker of English!