Hábitos y rutinas
Introducción
Welcome back to Class 6! For starters let’s be clear about Verb tenses, since they mean all the changes made in the form of the verbs. These changes are important for meaning because they are “signals” about time, whether something is a continuing action, and other information.
We all understand the past-present future, but in English the verbs can be simple, continuous (or progressive), perfect, perfect progressive. In future levels you will learn more about all the tenses, for now we will check simple tenses.
One important English verb tense is the simple present. This is actually not a very good name because its meaning is not exactly simple and the time for which it is used is not exactly present.
Let’s check the simple present!
Desarrollo del tema
Let’s start explaining the use of the simple present tense. We have already worked on the verb be in present simple, such a verb is the most common one, but it is irregular.
With all other verbs, we make the present simple in the same way just by adding the person to the base verb, but with an extra ‘s’ if the subject is ‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’.
Depending on the person, the simple present tense is formed by using the root form or by adding ‑s or ‑es to the end.
- I study English. Yo estudio inglés;(empecé hace algún tiempo y continúo, aunque puede que en el momento presente no esté realizando esta actividad.)
- He plays tennis. Él juega al tenis;( practica este deporte con cierta asiduidad, pero no significa que en el momento presente esté en la pista de tenis jugando.)
- I work in a bank. Yo trabajo en un banco; (ésta es mi profesión, aunque puede que en el momento actual yo esté de vacaciones, descansando en mi casa.)
How to form the present simple: Forming the Present Simple tense in English
It is used when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly, to talk about habits, generic actions that are frequent but without reference to the specific moment.
-Present simple is used to talk about future actions already planned, especially trips.
I leave Mexico tomorrow morning/ Me voy de Mexico mañana por la mañana
Check the following video: How and when to use the Present Simple Tense in English
As mentioned before, in the third person (he, she, it) we have to add “s”.
- Infinitive I / you / we / they He / she / it
- To eat (comer) eat eats
- To run (correr) run runs
***if the verb ends on “ss”, “sh”, “ch”, “x”, “o”, when forming 3rd person singular we add “-es”.
Infinitive I / you / we / they He / she / it
- To kiss (besar) kiss kisses
- To watch (mirar) watch watches
*** If the verb ends in “y”, when forming the 3rd person singular we change the “y” for “I”,followed by “es”.
Infinitive I / you / we / they He / she / it
- To carry (llevar) carry carriesTo envy (envidiar envy envies
For more on the third person singular, go to: Simple Present and Third person rules
Do you know how to form a 3rd person singular by now? Let’s practice a little.
Complete the following exercises with the appropriate forms of the given verbs.
- My brother —- (speaks) three languages fluently.
- Daniel —- (watch) his favorite program every Saturday.
- Jennifer —- (wash) her hair every day.
- Ryan —- (go) to church every Sunday.
- My sister —- (do) her homework after school.
- My father —- (not like) fast food.
- Your uncle —- (not work) here.
- —- (Sarah / want) to come with us?
- —- (Andre / enjoy) pop music?
- Lea —- (teach) English in a private school.one of the most modest people I have ever met.
- Jessica —- (kiss) her mother before she goes to bed.
- Paul —- (not play) tennis.
- Clara —- (sing) very well.
- She always —- (carry) her umbrella with her.
- He never —- (calls) me.
- My uncle —- (not talk) much.
- —- (she / cook) well?
- —- (he / drive) carefully?
- My son never —- (listen) to me.
- Your baby —- (cry) too much.
Negative form
Negative sentences are formed with the auxiliary “to do”, and its contraction “don’t” (= do not) for subjects “I, you, we, they”, and “doesn’t” (= does not) for subjects “he, she, it”.
- She doesn’t go to the cinema. Ella no va al cine
- We don´t know the answer. Nosotros no sabemos la respuesta
Interrogative form
The question forms also with the auxiliary “to do” at the beginning of the question (“do” for subject “I, you, we, they”; “does” for “he, she, it”).
Does she go to the cinema? ¿Va ella al cine?Do you know the answer? ¿ Conocen la respuesta?
Regular and irregular verbs in present simple use Auxiliary Do and Does for negative and question forms.
Let’s review it in the following video: Test Yourself! – Present Simple – QUIZ
For more on the present simple review: Present Simple Tense – English grammar tutorial video lesson
- Expresiones de tiempo/Time expressions: every day, twice a day, three times a day, week, month, day, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night
- The present simple and adverbs of frequency: as the present simple tense is used to talk about things that happen repeatedly it is often combined with adverbs of frequency. These are words that tell us how often something is done.
For example:
- I always wake up at 8 o’ clock. [100% of the time]
- It usually rains in autumn. [More true than not true]
- They often go to the cinema. [More true than not true]
- She sometimes reads books. [50% of the time]
- He rarely drinks tea. [More untrue than true]
- We never go to the theatre. [0% of the time]
Check the following: TIME EXPRESSIONS!! Aprendamos como usar las Time Expressions en el Simple Present!!
Verbos frecuentes / Frequent verbs: Go, do, work, play, write, paint, listen, talk, speak, sing, dance, study, sleep, drive.
Go to the following video to check the pronunciation on Action verbs: Action Verbs Vocabulary
Verbs for English 1
For a little practice go to: Presente simple
Conclusión
Remember!
The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes).
- How do you feel about the contents from this course?
- How are you progressing as a learner?
- Do you feel more confident?
You have come a long way in the process and now you are ready for the English II course.
- Congratulations! you have finished this English course.
- Do not give up and good luck on your last evaluation.