SIMPLE PRESENT
TENSE
BY SITTI SAHRIANA
The usage of the simple present tense
Simple present tense is used to talk about
a. Activities that happen repeatedly (again and again). These
events can be personal habits or routines (for examples,
activities at home, campus or at work), or scheduled events.
Habits or Routines
I always eat rice and omelette for breakfast.
He rides a motorcycle to campus every day.
Scheduled Events
Class starts at 8 am and finishes at 6 pm.
The club meets in the library every Friday.
b. Factual information, such as General truths, Scientific facts,
or definition. (am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being)
General Truths
Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia.
Cat has four legs.
Scientific facts
Water boils at 100oc.
Iceland has more than 100 volcanoes.
Definition
The word brilliant means “very intelligent”.
c. We also use Simple Present Tense with stative verbs to talk about states or
condition, such as physical description, feelings, relationship, knowledge,
beliefs, or possession. Some common stative verbs are be, have, seem, like,
want, know, understand, mean, believe, own and belong.
He is tall and has dark hair.
She seems angry.
You like sports.
They want a new car.
she knows the answer.
I don’t understand.
I believe you.
We belong to the soccer team.
The structure of Verbal Sentence
AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS
SUBJECT BASE FORM OF VERB COMPLEMENT
BASE FORM OF VERB + -s/-es
I
eat
You
He
She eats
fresh fruit
It
We
The sentences above are also known as Verbal Sentences because
You eat
they have
They
verb right after the subject without being preceded by
TO BE ( am, is, are ).
NEGATIVE STATEMENT
SUBJECT DO/DOES + NOT BASE FORM OF VERB COMPLEMENT
I do not
You don’t
He
does not
She
doesn’t eat fresh fruit
It
We
do not
You
don’t
They
INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS
DO / DOES SUBJECT BASE FORM OF VERB COMPLEMENT
Do you
Does she/he/it eat fresh fruit?
Do they/we/you
The statements above are called YES/NO Questions.
Why they are called Yes/No Question because the answer of those
questions above are either Yes or No.
The Structure of Non-Verbal Sentence
For Non-verbal sentences in Bahasa, the subject is directly followed by adjectives,
nouns, or adverbial. For example:
Saya capek.
Arman seorang analis.
Bella dan Kiki (ada/berada) di Denpasar.
In Bahasa, the sentences above are correct but in English is incorrect when we say:
I tired. (incorrect)
Arman an analyst. (incorrect)
Bella and Kiki in Denpasar. (incorrect)
A sentence in English must have a Subject and a Verb.
So to make the sentences in the previous slide correct then we
have to use TO BE ( am, is, are ) after the subject to make the
sentences correct. We use the present form of TO BE because
we use it in the Simple Present sentences.
INCORRECT CORRECT
I tired. I am tired.
Arman an analyst. Arman is an analyst.
Bella and Kiki in Denpasar. Bella and Kiki are in Denpasar.
AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT
SUBJECT TO BE ( AM, IS, ARE ) COMPLEMENT
I am a student.
She is beautiful.
They are happy.
We are in Singapore.
NEGATIVE STATEMENT
SUBJECT TO BE (AM, IS,ARE) NOT COMPLEMENT
I am not a student.
She is not beautiful.
They are not happy.
We are not in Singapore.
INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS
TO BE (AM,IS,ARE) SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
Am I a student?
Is She beautiful?
Are they happy?
Are We in Singapore?
The usage of Adverb of Frequency
We use adverbs of frequency with the simple present tense to
express how often something happens. Adverbs of frequency usually
comes before the main verb but after the verb be.
There are many kinds of Adverbs of frequency, but the most
common are:
1. Always 5. Seldom
2. Usually 6. Rarely
3. Often 7. Never
4. Sometimes
For example:
1. John always drives his car to campus.
2. My mother usually cooks chicken curry.
3. They often go to mall.
4. We sometimes visit museum.
5. You seldom smile to your friends.
6. I rarely read comics.
7. He never drinks coffee.
8. Sinta is always late for class.
9. They are often on time for class.
10.The weather is usually cold in June in Newcastle.
