1B: Present Simple (A2)

This lesson is about Present Simple but I prefer to call it "habitual present" because it gives you a clue (pista) about how to use it. The verb is formed with the infinitive verb (except the verb to be) and it takes an -S for the 3rd person in singular. In many ocassions we use a frequency adverb wtih this tense (tiempo verbal). You need to use the auxiliary DO/DOES for negative or interrogative sentences. These are some examples:

• I study English  ---   I don't study Japanese   ---  Does she usually eat meat? No, she doesn't . She never eats meat because she's a vegan.

On the Internet you can find some videos about habitual present and daily routines:

• this video is with the 1st person in singular and the 3rd person in singular: click here
• A video with grammar explanation: click here

In class I explained the 3 pronunciations of -S and -ES (which are usually used in 3rd person in singular of present, plurals and some contractions or saxon genitive) . This video can help you to remember what I said about it: click here. You can use the mnemotechnique rule (PeTaKaSh) for voiceless consonants and also remember that any vowel sound (-y, -er, -o) is always voiced. The extra syllable is after a "sybillant" sound (sonido silbante).

Now do these exercises to practise with present simple or habitual present:

• The Queen's routine: click here
• As a curiosity, this is the routine of a Canadian teacher: click here (more difficult than the others!)

Grammar exercises:     exercise 1 (this is the exercise we saw in class)     exercise 2  (this is a link with exercises)     exercise 3  (this is a test to check you've understood present simple)

To finish with, this is the video woth the song Eternal Flame

See you in class!