English as an Additional Language/Simple present tense
The present simple tense is usually regular. Yet, there are a few exceptions, particularly with verbs ending in 'y'. Compared to most other Indo-European languages, English regular verbs have simple conjugation, because the first and second person forms are the same.
Regular Verbs
[edit | edit source]Here is an example of the form of the present simple for regular verbs, using the verb "to like":
- I like football.
- You like football.
- He/She/It likes football.
- We like football.
- They like football.
As you can see from the example above, the infinitive only changes for the 3rd person singular, where an s is added to the end of the word.
Irregular Verbs
[edit | edit source]English has a large number of irregular verbs, most significantly the verb "to be," which you are learning throughout this textbook. Other verbs conjugate in different ways, including:
- Verbs like can and should do not change in any present conjugation.
- Verbs like try add ies instead of s.
- The verb have use a completely different form in the 3rd person singular, in this case has.