Present simple
Level: beginner
The present tense is the base form of the verb:
I work in London.
But with the third person singular (she/he/it), we add an –s:
She works in London.
Present simple questions
Look at these questions:
Do you play the piano?
Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?
We use do and does to make questions with the present simple. We use does for the third person singular (she/he/it) and do for the others.
We use do and does with question words like where, what and when:
Where do Angela and Rita live?
What does Angela do?
When does Rita usually get up?
But questions with who often don't use do or does:
Who lives in London?
Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?
Present continuous
Level: beginner
The present continuous is made from the present tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:
I am working
You are playing
He is talking
She is living
It is eating
We are staying
They are sleeping
We use the present continuous to talk about:
activities at the moment of speaking:
I'm just leaving work. I'll be home in an hour.
Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.
We make questions by putting am, is or are in front of the subject:
Are you listening?
Are they coming to your party?
When is she going home?
What am I doing here?
Here's how to make the positive:
Positive with 'be'
I was cold
you were tired
he was in the garden
she was late
it was sunny
we were on holiday
they were hungry
To make the negative with 'be', just add 'not':
Negative with 'be' Negative Short Form
I was not sleepy I wasn't sleepy
you were not on the bus you weren't on the bus
he was not at school he wasn't at school
she was not beautiful she wasn't beautiful
it was not cold it wasn't cold
we were not at work we weren't at work
they were not tired they weren't tired
Here's an exercise to practise the positive and negative forms with 'be'
To make a question, just like the present simple, we change the position of 'was / were' and the subject.
Here are the past simple 'yes / no' questions with 'be':
'Yes / No' Questions with 'Be'
was I sleepy?
were you late?
was he at the cinema?
was she kind?
was it hot?
were we hungry?
were they at work?
And the 'wh' questions with 'be' (the question word just goes at the beginning, everything else is the same):
'Wh' Questions with 'Be'
why was I sleepy?
where were you?
when was he at the cinema?
how was she?
how was it?
why were we hungry?
when were they at work?
SPER CA TE AM AJUTAT!!
