The Present Simple Tense

We need to use the Present Simple a lot in English, so it's really important to understand it well. Many students have problems with the form (or how to make it).

• If you'd prefer to learn about how to USE the Present Simple jump to this page.
• Or, click here for all the practice exercises about this tense.

Simple present tense with 'be'

The verb 'be' is different from the other verbs in this tense. Let's look at 'be' first:

Here's the positive form (positive means a normal sentence, not a negative or a question. This is sometimes called 'affirmative')

Click here to practise making the positive with 'be'. Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add 'not'.

Click here to practise making the negative with 'be'. And finally let's talk about the question form of the present simple with 'be'.

Firstly, here's the 'yes / no' question form:

Click here to practise making yes / no questions with 'be'.

If you'd like to make a 'wh' question, you just put the question word at the front: