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CHAPTER 2. THE SIMPLE PRESENT OF VERBS OTHER THAN THE VERB TO BE |
1. Formation of the simple present
The Simple Present of any verb other than the verb
to be is formed
from the
bare infinitive of the verb. As shown in the following
examples, the bare infinitive of a verb consists of the infinitive
without the word
to. The bare infinitive is the form in which
English verbs are usually listed in dictionaries. For example:
| Infinitive | Bare Infinitive |
| to be | be |
| to walk | walk |
| to work | work |
In the Simple Present of verbs other than the verb
to be, the form of
the verb used with the subjects
I ,
you,
we and
they is the same
as the bare infinitive. The form of the verb used with the subjects
he,
she and
it has the ending
s added to the bare infinitive.
For example, the Simple Present of the verb
to work is conjugated as follows:
| I work |
| you work |
| he works |
| she works |
| it works |
| we work |
| they work |
The form of the verb used with the subjects
he,
she and
it is generally referred to as the
third person singular
See
Exercise 1.
a. The simple present of the verb To Have
The Simple Present of the verb
to have is slightly irregular, since
the bare infinitive is
have, whereas the form of the verb used in the
third person singular is
has. The Simple Present of the verb
to have
is conjugated as follows:
| I have |
| you have |
| he has |
| she has |
| it has |
| we have |
| they have |
See
Exercise 2.
2. Spelling rules for adding s in the third person singular
Some verbs change their spelling when
s is added in the third person
singular.
a. Verbs ending in y
The English letters
a,
e,
i,
o and
u are generally referred
to as
vowels. The other English letters are generally referred to as
consonants.
When a verb ends in
y immediately preceded by a
consonant, the
y is
changed to
ie before the ending
s is added. In each of the following
examples, the consonant immediately preceding the final
y is underlined.
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| study | studies |
| fly | flies |
| carry | carries |
However, when a verb ends in
y immediately preceded by a
vowel, the
y
is
not changed before the ending
s is added. In each of the following
examples, the vowel immediately preceding the final
y is underlined.
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| say | says |
| enjoy | enjoys |
| buy | buys |
See
Exercise 3.
b. Verbs ending in o
When a verb ends in
o, the letter
e is added before the
s ending. For example:
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| do | does |
| echo | echoes |
| go | goes |
c. Verbs ending in ch, s, sh, x or z
When a verb ends in a sibilant sound such as
ch,
s,
sh,
x or
z,
the letter
e is added before the
s ending. For example:
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| pass | passes |
| push | pushes |
| watch | watches |
| fix | fixes |
| buzz | buzzes |
See
Exercise 4.
3. Pronunciation of the es ending
A syllable is a unit of pronunciation, usually consisting of a vowel
sound which may or may not be accompanied by consonants.
When a verb ends in a sibilant sound such as
ch,
s,
sh,
x or
z,
the
es ending of the third person singular is pronounced as a separate
syllable. The reason for this is that these sounds are so similar to the
sound of the
es ending, that the ending must be pronounced as a separate
syllable in order to be heard clearly.
In each of the following examples the bare infinitive consists of one
syllable, whereas the form of the verb used in the third person singular
consists of two syllables.
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| pass | passes |
| push | pushes |
| catch | catches |
| mix | mixes |
Similarly, when
s is added to verbs ending in
ce,
ge,
se or
ze,
the final
es is usually pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of
the following examples the bare infinitive consists of one syllable,
whereas the form of the verb used in the third person singular consists
of two syllables.
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| race | races |
| rage | rages |
| praise | praises |
| doze | dozes |
However, when
s is added to a verb ending in
e preceded by a letter
other than
c,
g,
s or
z, the final
es is
not pronounced as a
separate syllable. In each of the following examples, both the bare
infinitive and the form of the verb used in the third person singular
consist of one syllable.
| Bare Infinitive | Third Person Singular |
| make | makes |
| smile | smiles |
| dine | dines |
| save | saves |
See
Exercise 5.
4. The auxiliary Do
With the exception of the verb
to be, verbs in modern English use the
auxiliary
do to form questions and negative statements in the Simple
Present.
The Simple Present of the verb
to do is conjugated as follows:
| I do |
| you do |
| he does |
| she does |
| it does |
| we do |
| they do |
Auxiliaries are verbs which are combined with other verbs to form
various tenses. It should be noted that when an auxiliary is combined
with another verb, it is the auxiliary which must agree with the
subject, while the form of the other verb remains invariable.
When the auxiliary
do is combined with another verb, the other verb
always has the form of the bare infinitive.
a. Questions
In order to form a question in the Simple Present of any verb other
than the verb
to be, the Simple Present of the auxiliary
do is added
before the subject, and the bare infinitive of the verb is placed after the subject. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| I work. | Do I work? |
| You work. | Do you work? |
| He works. | Does he work? |
| She works. | Does she work? |
| It works. | Does it work? |
| We work. | Do we work? |
| They work. | Do they work? |
See
Exercise 6.
b. Negative statements
In order to form a negative statement, the Simple Present of the
auxiliary
do followed by the word
not is placed before the bare
infinitive of the verb. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| I work. | I do not work. |
| You work. | You do not work. |
| He works. | He does not work. |
| She works. | She does not work. |
| It works. | It does not work. |
| We work. | We do not work. |
| They work. | They do not work. |
See
Exercise 7.
In spoken English, the following contractions are often used:
| Without contractions | With contractions |
| do not | don't |
| does not | doesn't |
c. Negative questions
To form a negative question, the Simple Present of the auxiliary
do
is placed before the subject, and the word
not followed by the bare
infinitive is placed after the subject. However, when contractions
are used, the contracted form of
not follows immediately after the
Simple Present of the auxiliary
do. For example:
| Without contractions | With contractions |
| Do I not work? | Don't I work? |
| Do you not work? | Don't you work? |
| Does he not work? | Doesn't he work? |
| Does she not work? | Doesn't she work? |
| Does it not work? | Doesn't it work? |
| Do we not work? | Don't we work? |
| Do they not work? | Don't they work? |
See
Exercise 8.
d. Tag questions
The auxiliary
do or
does is used for a tag question which follows
a statement containing the Simple Present of a verb other than the verb
to be. In the following examples, the negative tag questions are
underlined. Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions.
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| I work. | I work, don't I? |
| You work. | You work, don't you? |
| He works. | He works, doesn't he? |
| She works. | She works, doesn't she? |
| It works. | It works, doesn't it? |
| We work. | We work, don't we? |
| They work. | They work, don't they? |
See
Exercise 9.
e. The verb To Have
It should be noted that, particularly in British English, in the case of
the Simple Present and Simple Past of the verb
to have, questions and
negative statements are sometimes formed in the same way as for the verb
to be, without the use of the auxiliary
do.
e.g. He has a sister,
hasn't he?
