Simple Present Time expressions PDF

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Present simple Affirmative sentences Let’s take a look at these examples: •

Every morning, many Argentineans have “mate”.

Cada mañana, muchos argentinos toman mate. (Drinking mate is a routine)

•

In Chile, people drink “Cola de Mono” in the Holidays Season.

En Chile, la gente bebe “Cola de Mono” durante las Fiestas. (Periodically, Chileans have this alcoholic beverage)

•

Americans love coffee.

Los norteamericanos adoran el café. (This is characteristic of them)

Let’s pay attention to the verbs in the previous sentences: Have, drink, love. They are in the Present Simple tense. We use this tense to speak about activities or states that are always (or periodically) true. So, you need to use this tense for things you do with a certain frequency, to speak about scientific data or facts, or to describe states. For example, if you go to the gym one day a week, you say: •

“I go to the gym every Tuesday”. (Voy al gimnasio cada martes.)

• “Englishmen talk in English”, or “Lions eat meat” (Los ingleses hablan inglés / Los leones comen carne) are examples of data that is always true. •

“I know how to drive”, and “I understand how you feel”

(Sé manejar / Entiendo cómo te sientes) are states.

For the third person singular, we add an “S” to the verb: •

“She goes to the gym every Tuesday”. (Ella va al gimnasio cada martes.)

•

“He talks in English”, or “The lion eats meat” (Él habla inglés / El león come carne)

•

“Peter knows how to drive” (Pedro sabe manejar)

Person

Verb

Example

I

work

I work from home. Trabajo en mi hogar.

study

I study online. Estudio en línea.

works

He works at the office. Él trabaja en la oficina.

studies

She studies at college. Ella estudia en la universidad.

work

We work hard. Trabajamos duro.

study

You study a lot. Estudian mucho.

HE – SHE – IT

YOU – THEY – WE

Negative sentences Read the following passage: Minnesota is very cold in winter, so people don’t walk in the streets very often, they stay home. Usually, Minnesotans wake up early and have a coffee; they don’t drink mate at all. My cousin lives there; she doesn’t stay up late because the sun sets around 4.00 PM. The passage is about habits and routines, so it is in the Present Simple tense. But look at the verbs (don’t walk, don’t drink, doesn’t stay): they speak about what people do not do as a habit. Let’s take a look at the negative form: It is made up with the auxiliary verbs “do”, or “does”, the word “not”, and the base form of the main verb. DO + NOT + WALK or DOES + NOT + WALK

Pronouns Affirmative I YOU WE THEY HE SHE IT

WALK DRINK STAY WALKS DRINKS (*) STAYS

Negative DO NOT

DOES NOT

Contraction

WALK DRINK STAY

DON´T

WALK DRINK STAY

WALK DRINK DOESN´T STAY

(*) Remember? The third person (singular) ends with an “ S”.

WALK DRINK STAY

Example I don’t walk at night. (No camino de noche.)

He doesn’t drink mate. (Él no toma mate.)

Interrogative sentences What about questions in the Present Simple tense? How do we ask about habits and routines? There are two (2) types of questions, and two (2) types of answers: WH questions

1) What do you do? I am a translator.

The answer offers information

Question word (Q)

Auxiliary verb (A)

Subject (S)

Verb (V)

Example

What

do

you

do?

Where

do

you

work?

How

does

she

travel to the office?

When

do

they

study?

Who

do

you

study with?

I am a translator. ¿A qué te dedicas? Soy traductora. I work at home. ¿Dónde trabajas? Trabajo en casa. She sometimes takes the bus. ¿Cómo viaja a la oficina? A veces toma el colectivo. They study on Monday evenings. ¿Cuándo estudian? Estudian los lunes por la noche. I like to study alone. ¿Con quién estudias? Me gusta estudiar solo.

Yes/No questions

Do you study Tourism? No, I do not. / Yes, I do.

The answer is Yes or No

Auxiliary Subject verb (A) (S)

Verb (V)

Affirmative answer

Negative answer

Do

I

teach?

Yes, I do.

Does

it

rain here?

Yes, it does.

Does

he/she

Do

you

read the newspaper? study?

Yes, he does. Yes, she does. Yes, you do.

Do

we

Yes, we do.

Do

your friends

have lunch at 12? like traveling?

No, I do not. No, I don’t. No, it does not. No, it doesn’t. No, she does not No, she doesn’t. No, you do not. No, you don’t. No, we do not. No, we don’t. No, they do not. No, they don’t.

Yes, they do.

Time expressions Let’s take a look at these examples: I get up

at 7:00

in the morning

on weekdays.

Me levanto a las 7 de la mañana los días de semana.

I go to bed

around ten

in the evening

on weeknights.

Me voy a la cama a eso de las diez de la noche en la semana.

I leave work

early

in the afternoon

on weekends.

Me voy del trabajo temprano en la tarde los fines de semana.

I go home

late

at night

on Fridays.

Me voy a casa tarde a la noche los viernes.

I stay up

until midnight

on Saturdays.

Me quedo despierto hasta tarde los sábados.

I wake up

before / after noon

on Sundays

Me levanto antes/después del mediodía los domingos.

(*) Note that days of the week are always capitalized. (Los días de la semana siempre se escriben en mayúsculas)...