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.
HE – SHE – IT works He works at the office. Él trabaja en la oficina.
studies She studies at college. Ella estudia en la universidad.
YOU – THEY – WE work We work hard. Trabajamos duro.
study You study a lot. Estudian mucho.
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 Negative Contraction Example
I WALK WALK WALK I don’t walk at night.
YOU DRINK DO NOT DRINK DON´T DRINK (No camino de noche.)
WE STAY STAY STAY
THEY
HE WALKS WALK WALK He doesn’t drink mate.
SHE DRINKS (*) DOES NOT DRINK DOESN´T DRINK (Él no toma mate.)
IT STAYS STAY STAY
(*) Remember? The third person (singular) ends with an “S”.
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 Auxiliary Subject Verb Example
word (Q) verb (A) (S) (V)
What do you do? I am a translator.
¿A qué te dedicas? Soy traductora.
Where do you work? I work at home.
¿Dónde trabajas? Trabajo en casa.
How does she travel to the She sometimes takes the bus.
office? ¿Cómo viaja a la oficina? A veces
toma el colectivo.
When do they study? They study on Monday evenings.
¿Cuándo estudian? Estudian los
lunes por la noche.
Who do you study with? 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 Affirmative Negative
verb (A) (S) (V) answer answer
Do I teach? Yes, I do. No, I do not.
No, I don’t.
Does it rain here? Yes, it does. No, it does not.
No, it doesn’t.
Does he/she read the Yes, he does. No, she does not
newspaper? Yes, she does. No, she doesn’t.
Do you study? Yes, you do. No, you do not.
No, you don’t.
Do we have lunch Yes, we do. No, we do not.
at 12? No, we don’t.
Do your friends like Yes, they do. No, they do not.
traveling? No, they don’t.
Time expressions
Let’s take a look at these examples:
I get up at 7:00 in the on Me levanto a las 7 de la mañana
morning weekdays. los días de semana.
I go to bed around ten in the on Me voy a la cama a eso de las
evening weeknights. diez de la noche en la semana.
I leave early in the on Me voy del trabajo temprano en
work afternoon weekends. 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 on Me quedo despierto hasta tarde
midnight Saturdays. los sábados.
I wake up before / on Me levanto antes/después del
after noon Sundays mediodía los domingos.
(*) Note that days of the week are always capitalized.
(Los días de la semana siempre se escriben en mayúsculas)
