Simple present
El "simple present" se utiliza:
- Para expresar hábitos y rutinas, hechos generales, acciones repetidas o situaciones, emociones y deseos permanentes:
I smoke (hábito); I work in London (permanencia); London is a large city (hecho general) - Para dar instrucciones o indicaciones:
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left. - Para hablar de eventos programados, presentes o futuros:
Your exam starts at 09.00. - Para referirse al futuro, detrás de algunas conjunciones: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
¡Cuidado! El "simple present" no se utiliza para hablar de lo que está ocurriendo en este momento.
Ejemplos
- Hábitos y rutinas
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly. - Eventos y acciones repetidos
We catch the bus every morning.
It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
They drive to Monaco every summer. - Hechos generales
Water freezes at zero degrees.
The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Her mother is Peruvian.
- Instrucciones o indicaciones
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford. - Eventos programados
His mother arrives tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the 26th March - Construcciones de futuro
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.
Formación del "simple present": to think
| Afirmativa | Interrogativa | Negativa |
|---|---|---|
| I think | Do I think? | I do not think |
| You think | Do you think? | You do not think |
| He thinks | Does he think? | He does not think |
| She thinks | Does she think? | She does not think |
| It thinks | Does it think? | It does not think |
| We think | Do we think? | We do not think. |
| They think | Do they think? | They do not think. |
Notas sobre la tercera persona del singular del "simple present"
- En la tercera persona del singular, el verbo siempre termina en -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks. - Para las formas negativa e interrogativa, se emplea DOES (= tercera persona del auxiliar 'DO') + el infinitivo del verbo.
He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla. - Verbos que terminan en -y : en la tercera persona del singular, se cambia la -y por -ies:
fly --> flies, cry --> cries
Excepción: cuando una vocal precede a la -y:
play --> plays, pray --> prays - Añadimos -es a los verbos que terminan en:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
Ejemplos
- He goes to school every morning.
- She understands English.
- It mixes the sand and the water.
- He tries very hard.
- She enjoys playing the piano.