Hi! How are you? How was your week?
Today we are going to talk about the simple present tense, verbs, and their use.
Verb tenses
When we talk about verbs, it is inevitable that next to the word “VERB” we find the word “TENSE” right after, but, what is a TENSE?
In grammar, we use TENSES to communicate; a TENSE is the from in which we express the TIME CONTEXT we are talking about. The TENSES in English grammar are:
For the purpose of this lesson, we will only focus on the simple present (or present simple, either way is OK )
Forming the simple present
All verbs have a base form; this base form is the simple form of the verb without verb tense conjugations, for example: swim, dance, sing, run, think, love, etcetera.
When we want to conjugate the verbs in the simple present tense, we need to ad an -S, an -ES or an -IES at the end of the verbs, but we need to be mindful of when to do it. Let’s take a look at our previous examples:
1.- Swim – Swims
2.- Dance – Dances
3.- Sing – Sings
4.- Run – Runs
5.- Think – Thinks
6.- Love -Loves
Using pronouns with the simple present
As I previously mentioned, we can add -S, an -ES or an -IES at the end of a verb to conjugate it in the simple present, but this is not a definitive rule. When we use the verbs in the simple present, they can also stay in their base form; and the way we conjugate them is mainly dictated by the pronoun perspective we use them with; and we also need to check if the verb we are conjugating is regular or irregular.
For more info about the personal pronouns, click here! 😉
Quick recap: personal pronouns can be divided into perspectives: 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person.
When we want to conjugate the verbs in the simple present, only the 1st and 2nd person perspectives keep the verb in their base form, here are some examples using the previous verbs:
Sing – I sing
Dance – You dance
Swim – We swim
Run – They run
It is in the 3rd person perspective that we conjugate the verbs adding -S, an -ES or an -IES , for example:
Swim – He swims
Dance -She dances
Verbs in the simple present
The verbs in the simple present can be conjugated by adding -S, an -ES or an -IES, but we need to be mindful of which verb needs which. The only exception is the verb to be, which changes its form depending on the person, click here to learn more about the simple present of the verb to be.
When to use -S:
For the verbs that end with -Y after a vowel, we only add -S. Here are some examples:
Samuel BUYS dog food for his pets.
Kevin ENJOYS eating candy.
The child OBEYS his mother.
When to use -ES:
For the verbs that end with –o, -sh, -ch, -ss, -x, -z, we only add -ES:
Let’s check out these examples:
The easter bunny GOES to work.
Mario FISHES with his son.
Alex TEACHES algebra to Mary.
Fer KISSES his girlfriend.
Pedro FIXES the toilet.
Lucy WALTZES with Edward.
When to use -IES:
For verbs that end in -Y after a consonant, we replace the -Y for an -I and add ES. Here you have some examples:
Mary TRIES to play the piano.
Alexis STUDIES for his exam.
Alanis CARRIES heavy boxes.
