Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense is used for an event or action that is happening right now or happens regularly. It is also called present indefinite tense. The simple present tense contains several forms of the present tense in English. It is helpful in giving the description of any habit, constant situation, general truths and stable arrangements. The formation of sentences in the simple present tense is quite easy. We just need to use the base form of the verb and the person singular takes an -s at the end. For example; She walks, he talks. We will practice simple present tense questions and answers in this article. The present simple quiz can be solved by following general rules of simple present tense.

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Rule of Simple Present Tense

There are different types of verb tenses, among them, simple present tense is relatively easiest to form.  The rules are helpful in solving present indefinite tense questions in the following article.

• The first basic rule of formation of sentences in the simple present is to use the root word of the verb, which is the form of a verb to form the first and second person constructions. For example:

1. You cook.

2. I dance.

3. They play.

4. We exist.

5. Trees grow.

• The second general rule is that when we use nouns or pronouns in the third person singular we add an -s or -es to the end of the root. So normally add an -es when a verb ends in -sh, -ch, -ss, –th, –x, or -z. We change the -y to an -i and add –es when the verb ends in a consonant followed by -y, For example, cry is changed to cries. The addition of -s is done when the verb ends in a vowel followed by –y. For example, play is changed to plays. Some examples of simple present tense verbs used with the third person singular nouns and pronouns are as follows.

1. Monkey jumps.

2. He plays.

3. His dog runs.

4. She studies.

5. David cooks.

• It is important to notice that both of the above general rules can be applied regardless of if the verb is transitive or intransitive. 

For example:

1. Maria walks. / Maria walks her dog.

2. They race. / They race cars.

• Has and has are two commonly used verbs that do not follow the general rules of the present indefinite tense. In the third person singular, when have used in the simple present tense have becomes has.

1. I have body pain.

2. We have four bikes.

3. He has two neighbours.

• We use the phrase do not follow by the root of the verb except in the third person singular, where we instead use does not follow by the root of the verb in order to make the simple present tense negative. Some of the examples of the simple present tense in the negative are given below:

1. He does not go on trips.

2. She does not walk properly.

3. We don’t talk anymore.

4. He doesn’t know the answer.

Examples of Simple Present Tense 

We use simple present tense to show habitual activities, events that are scheduled near in future, general truth, for direction and instruction etc. Some examples of simple present tense exercise are given below to understand it more clearly. 

• For habitual nature

1. She eats eggs at breakfast.

2. He practices mathematics every day.

3. They do meeting every Monday.

• For repeated events or actions

1. We see criminal activities every day.

2. They make noises in class.

3. They go to Manali every summer.

• For general truths

1. Water freezes at zero degrees.

2. The Earth revolves around the Sun.

3. The sun rises in the east.

• For instructions or directions

1. Open the bottle.

2. Close all the windows of your room.

• For fixed arrangements

1. His sister arrives today.

2. Their winter vacation starts on the 20 December.

• With future constructions

1. She'll come to meet you before she leaves.

2. They'll eat when the whole family comes together.

Verb Tenses: Present Simple Quiz

For simple present tense practice, some questions are given with options. Students can give the simple present tense test in order to check their knowledge about the present simple quiz. Verb Tenses: Present simple quiz is based on the general rules of formation of simple present tense. Now let’s solve the simple present tense exercise.

1. Do you _____  green vegetables at dinner?

A. Like

B. Likes

C. Be like

D. Liking

Answer: A

Explanation: When we use nouns or pronouns in the third person singular we add an -s or -es to the end of the root but here ‘you’ is the second person so we will not s or es at the end of the root word.

2. She _____ not want to go to school today.

A. Do

B. Does

C. Is

D. Has

Answer: B

Explanation: Here we will use does because the pronoun ‘she’ is in the third person singular.

3.  It _____ a beautiful day today.

A. Is

B. Are

C. Am

D. Has

Answer: A

Explanation:In the given option only A is correct because are is used with plural subjects, am is used with I and has is not suitable here.

4. They _____ not in the town at the moment.

A. Am

B. Is

C. Be

D. Are

Answer: D

Explanation: We will use ‘are’ in the sentence because the pronoun ‘they’ is in the third person plural.

5. Dinesh  _____ not come to my school.

A. Is

B. Does

C. Are

D. Has

Answer: B

Explanation: The subject is a singular noun so we will use ‘does’ in this sentence. 

6. She _____late in the assembly.

A. Is always come

B. Always come

C. Always comes

D. Are always coming

Answer: C

Explanation: Among the given options C is correct because the rest of the options are not following the general rules of simple present tense.

7. The train_____  in twenty minutes.

A. Leaves

B. Is leaving

C. Leave

D. Leaving

Answer: A

Explanation: We will add es at the end of the root word because the train is a singular noun, hence option A is correct.

8. I  _____ up at 6 AM in every morning.

A. wake

B. Am waking

C. waking

D. wakes

Answer: A

Explanation: Only option A i.e. wake verb is going correctly with the pronoun ‘I’ in the sentence.

9. What time _____  she _____ to the office for work?

A. Are, going

B. Are, go 

C. Does, go

D. Do, go

Answer: D 

Explanation: Here the most appropriate answer is option C. She is a singular pronoun hence we will use does and go.

10. The earth _____ around the sun.

A. round

B. rounds

C. rounding

D. Is round

Answer: B

Explanation: Here option B is correct, that is rounds. It is a general truth and repeated event so it is present indefinite tense.

We know that simple present tense refers to an action that is happening right now. We should remember the basic rules of the formation of sentences in the simple present tense. This will avoid grammatical mistakes. The above simple present tense exercise is given in a form of a present simple quiz that would be quite helpful for quick revision of simple present tense.