Simple Present vs.

Simple Past
 Remember:
Grammar has meaning!

Different grammar tenses are used in

different situations or contexts and
they carry different meanings.

For example . . .
Use the simple Use the simple
present for: past for:
1) Something that
1) action that happened in the
happens repeatedly past
(habitual action)
2) Sentences with
2) general or time expressions in
permanent the past
situations

3) facts
 Simple Present (Examples)
1) Habitual Action:
Tom goes fishing every week.

I usually work until 2:00 p.m.

My family comes to visit me every year.

*Frequency adverbs: these adverbs are

commonly used with simple present:
Always, never, usually, rarely,
sometimes, often, etc.
 Simple Present (More Examples)
2) General or Permanent Situations:
My family lives far away.
Jack doesn’t work on Saturday.
Beth and Joan work at ECC.

3) Facts:
The Earth is round.
Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
 Simple Present:
The most important thing to remember
about this tense is . . .
3rd person singular (he, she, it)
We say:

I
You
We
They
 Simple Present:
But for 3rd person singular, we say . . .

He
She
It
 The verb BE
Remember the forms of verb BE for
the simple present tense:

I AM
He, She, It IS
We, You, They ARE
 Simple Present (Negative)
For all verbs (EXCEPT be and have
got), use:
1) Sara works on Sunday.
Sara doesn’t work on Sunday.

2) They have a big house.

They don’t have a big house.

3) Sam takes classes at night.

Sam doesn’t take classes at night.

4) I have a lot of free time.

I don’t have a lot of free time.
 VERB BE (Negative)

For this verb ONLY, never use doesn’t

or don’t. Simple ADD the word NOT
after the verb.

I am tired. I am NOT tired.

She is rich. She is NOT rich.
They are here. They are NOT here.
 Simple Present
(Interrogative)
For all verbs (EXCEPT be and have
got), use:

Do Subject
Does

And… ? (question mark)

 VERB BE (Interrogative)

For this verb just invert the order of

the elements in the affirmative and add
question mark (?).

I am tired. Am I tired?
She is rich. Is she rich?
They are here. Are they here?
 Past Simple:
Very often the Past Simple ends in –ed.
(regular verbs)
She walked in the park.
She loved the flowers.
But many important verbs are irregular.
This means that the Past Simple does
not end in –ed and you may need to
consult a verb list.
Leave – left Go – went
Cost – cost Make - made
 Simple Past (Negative)
For all verbs (EXCEPT be and have
got), use:

Didn´t
 Simple Past (Interrogative)

For all verbs (EXCEPT be and have

got), use:

Did Subject

And… ? (question mark)

 VERB BE
Remember the forms of verb BE for
the simple past tense:

I was
He, She, It was
They, We, You were
 VERB BE (Negative)

For this verb ONLY, never use didn’t.

Simple ADD the word NOT after the
verb.

I was tired. I was NOT tired.

She was rich. She was NOT rich.
They were here.They were NOT here.
 VERB BE (Interrogative)

Remember to invert the order and add

the question mark.

I was tired. Was I tired?

She was rich. Was she rich?
They were here. Were they here?
 Past Simple - examples
• I didn’t go (not/go) to work yesterday
because I wasn’t (not/be) very well.
• Where did you go?
• Was the food good?
• She walked in the park.
• She left Lisbon last month.
Past time expressions: yesterday, last
week/year/month, in 1990,…