Simple Present

Hey there, how are you going?

We use simple present in English to talk about facts and habits.

Affirmative examples:

I speak English.

She runs fast.

You love chocolate.

Rich people exploit the poor.

We fight for human rights.

He studies Portuguese.

Diana writes amazing books.

Pronouns	Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I	speak	don't speak	Do I speak...?
You	speak	don't speak	Do you speak...?
He/She/It	speaks	doesn't speak	Does he/she/it speak...?
We	speak	don't speak	Do we speak...?
You	speak	don't speak	Do you speak...?
They	speak	don't speak	Do they speak...?

Notice that for the affirmative form, the third person singular (he, she and it) always take a different ending for the verb. They come followed by an "s" or an "es".

For the negative forms, all the verbs remain the same, and they come with either a "don't" or a "doesn't" (he, she and it) before the verb to make it negative.

For the interrogative forms, you must start the question with "do" or "does" (he, she and it), before the pronoun.

Notice that "he", "she" and "it" are the only ones that have differences!!!

Notice that none of these rules apply to the verb "to be"!!!

Negative examples:

I don't speak English.

She doesn't run fast.

You don't love chocolate.

Rich people don't exploit the poor.

We don't fight for human rights.

He doesn't study Portuguese.

Diana doesn't write amazing books.

Interrogative examples (yes/no questions):

Do I speak English?

Does she run fast?

Do you love chocolate?

Do rich people exploit the poor?

Do we fight for human rights?

Does he study Portuguese?

Does Diana write amazing books?

To answer the "yes" or "no" questions, you have two options. You can either make a full sentence repeating all of the information or you can make a short answer, using the subject and the auxiliar.

Interrogative examples (yes/no questions):

Do I speak English?

Yes, I speak English./Yes, I do.

No, I don't speak English./No, I don't

Does she run fast?

Yes, she runs fast./Yes, she does.

No, she doesn't run fast./No, she doesn't.

Do you love chocolate?

Yes, I love chocolate./Yes, I do.

No, I don't love chocolate./No, I don't.

Do rich people exploit the poor?

Yes, rich people/they exploit the poor./Yes, they do.

No, rich people/they don't epxloit the poor./No, they don't.

Do we fight for human rights?

Yes, we fight for human rights./Yes, we do.

No, we don't fight for human rights./No, we don't.

Does he study Portuguese?

Yes, he studies Portuguese./Yes, he does.

No, he doesn't study Portuguese./No, he doesn't.

Does Diana write amazing books?

Yes, Diana(she writes amazing books./Yes, she does.

No, Diana/she doesn't write amazing books./No she doesn't.

The pattern for questions is similar if you ask an open question. You must add the question word before "do" or "does" and that's it! As for the answers, it can never be "yes" or "no".

Interrogative examples (open questions):

What languages do you speak?

I speak English and Portuguese.

Where do you live?

I live in Brazil.

How does she study?

She studies with a teacher.

Why do they fight for human rights?

Because human rights are important.

Etc...

Of course it is important to practice and learn more verbs but now you know the rules for simple present! If you wanna practice with me, you can schedule a lesson!