Simple Present Exercises
How the simple present works
The simple present describes habits, routines, facts and permanent situations — things that are generally true, not only happening now.
- Form:
- I/you/we/they work — he/she/it works (add -s in third person singular)
- Negative:
- don't / doesn't + base verb: She doesn't work on Sundays.
- Question:
- Do/Does + subject + base verb: Does he speak French?
- Use:
- habits (I run every day), facts (Water boils at 100°C), schedules (The train leaves at 9)
- Signal words:
- always, usually, often, sometimes, never, every day, on Mondays
Examples
She works at a hospital and starts at 7 a.m.
routine — third person adds -s
I don't drink coffee in the evening.
negative with don't + base verb
Does your brother live in London?
question with does — main verb stays in base form
Water freezes at 0°C.
general fact
We usually have dinner at eight.
adverb of frequency before the main verb
Practice exercises
Choose the correct form
Select the correct option to complete each sentence.
1.My sister ___ English at a primary school.
2.___ they ___ in this neighborhood?
3.He ___ meat — he's a vegetarian.
4.The museum ___ at 9 a.m. every day.
5.I ___ to music while I work.
Complete the sentences
Type the correct simple present form of the verb in brackets.
Put the words in order
Click the words in the correct order to build the sentence.
11. Build the sentence:
12. Build the sentence:
13. Build the sentence:
14. Build the sentence:
True or false?
Decide if each statement about the simple present is true or false.
15.The sentence "She don't like fish" is correct.
16.We use the simple present for general facts like "The sun rises in the east."
17.In the question "Does he works here?", the verb form is correct.
18.'Always' normally goes before the main verb: "I always walk to school."
Frequently asked questions
When do we use the simple present?
Use the simple present for habits and routines (I run every morning), general facts (Water boils at 100°C), permanent situations (She lives in Madrid), schedules (The train leaves at 9), and states with verbs like know, want, and like.
Why does the verb take -s with he, she and it?
It's the third person singular ending, a fixed rule of English grammar: I work, but he works. Spelling changes apply after certain endings — watch → watches, study → studies, go → goes.
What is the difference between 'don't' and 'doesn't'?
'Don't' (do not) is used with I, you, we and they; 'doesn't' (does not) is used with he, she and it. After both, the main verb stays in its base form: She doesn't work (never 'doesn't works').
Where do adverbs of frequency go in the sentence?
Before the main verb (I usually walk to work) but after the verb 'be' (I am usually tired on Mondays). Common adverbs of frequency: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
What is the difference between the simple present and the present continuous?
The simple present describes what generally happens (I work in a bank); the present continuous describes what is happening now or around now (I am working from home this week).
The simple present explained in depth
The simple present is usually the first tense English learners meet, yet even advanced students keep making mistakes with it — mostly with the third-person -s and with the auxiliary 'do'. Understanding the logic behind the tense makes both problems easier to fix.
Despite its name, the simple present is not really about the present moment. "I play tennis" doesn't mean I am playing right now — it means playing tennis is part of my life. The tense paints a general picture: habits, routines, facts, and permanent situations. For actions happening at this moment, English uses the present continuous instead.
The third-person -s is the tense's famous trap. The rule itself is small — he, she and it add -s or -es — but it requires constant attention because many languages mark all persons or none. The spelling patterns are regular: verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -ss, -x or -o add -es (watches, goes); consonant + y becomes -ies (studies); everything else adds plain -s.
Negatives and questions bring in the auxiliary 'do', and with it the single most common simple-present error: doubling the -s. Once 'does' appears, it carries the third-person marking, so the main verb returns to the base form — "Does she work?", never "Does she works?". Think of the -s as moving from the verb onto the auxiliary.
Finally, the simple present pairs naturally with adverbs of frequency — always, usually, often, sometimes, never — which quantify how often the habit happens. Their position is fixed enough to be testable: before a main verb, after 'be'. The exercises above drill each of these points in turn, so a full pass through the page covers all of the tense's problem areas.