English Lesson 3: Present Simple Tense

📌 Present simple describes:

Habits & routines: I wake up at 7 AM every day.
Facts & general truths: Water boils at 100°C.
Permanent situations: She lives in Berlin.
Schedules (future): The train leaves at 6 PM.

💡 For Russian speakers: English present simple does NOT translate well to Russian present tense. It's closer to "I speak" (not "I am speaking"). For ongoing actions, English uses the present continuous ("I am speaking").

🎵 Conjugation – The -s Rule

Most verbs are very regular. The only change is adding -s or -es for he/she/it (third person singular).

📌 Example with the verb "to speak":

Subject	Conjugation	Meaning
I	speak	я говорю
you	speak	ты говоришь
he/she/it	speaks	он/она говорит
we	speak	мы говорим
they	speak	они говорят

⭐ The golden rule: Only he / she / it change the verb. Every other subject uses the base form!

🚫 Negation with "do not / does not"

📌 To make negative, use DO NOT (don't) or DOES NOT (doesn't) + base verb:

I do not like coffee. / I don't like coffee.
You do not work on Sunday. / You don't work on Sunday.
She does not eat meat. / She doesn't eat meat. (注意: 不加-s!)
We do not speak French. / We don't speak French.

⚠️ Important: After "doesn't", the verb returns to base form (no -s).

✅ She doesn't eat meat.
❌ She doesn't eats meat.

❓ Questions with "do / does"

📌 Use DO or DOES + subject + base verb:

You like pizza. → Do you like pizza?
She speaks English. → Does she speak English? (NOT "Does she speaks")
They live in Paris. → Do they live in Paris?

📝 Spelling Rules for 3rd Person -s

📌 Most verbs add -s: Base3rd Person speakspeaks readreads writewrites

📌 Verbs ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -zz, -o add -es:

Base	3rd Person
watch	watches
finish	finishes
fix	fixes
go	goes
do	does

📌 Verbs ending in consonant + y change y to ies:

Base	3rd Person
study	studies
cry	cries
try	tries
fly	flies

Vowel + y is regular: play → plays, say → says, buy → buys

📚 Common Present Simple Verbs

📋 Summary – Present Simple

Infinitive	Meaning	I / You / We / They	He / She / It
to speak	говорить	speak	speaks
to work	работать	work	works
to live	жить	live	lives
to study	учиться	study	studies
to watch	смотреть	watch	watches
to go	идти / ехать	go	goes
to do	делать	do	does
to have	иметь	have	has (irregular!)

	Positive	Negative	Question
I / You / We / They
Verbs	I work	I don't work	Do I work?
He / She / It
Verbs	She works	She doesn't work	Does she work?

⚠️ Common mistakes to avoid:

❌ She don't like coffee → ✅ She doesn't like coffee.
❌ Does she likes coffee? → ✅ Does she like coffee?
❌ He go to work → ✅ He goes to work.

🇬🇧 English Lesson 3: Present Simple Tense

📑 On this page

⏰ Uses of Present Simple