🧱 Grammar · Verb & Sentence Basics
Present Simple
The tense for facts, habits and routines — the first tense every learner needs, and the one you’ll use most.
Grammar › Verb & Sentence Basics › Present Simple
The rule in one sentenceUse the present simple for facts, habits and general truths — add -s to the verb after he/she/it (Yorgos Lanthimos directs strange, darkly comic films).
What is the present simple for?
The present simple is the tense you reach for when something is generally true, happens regularly, or simply is a fact — not something happening at this exact second.
Facts and general truths: Pixar makes animated films. The Oscars take place every year in Los Angeles. David Fincher often reshoots scenes dozens of times to get them right. None of these are happening right now as you read this — they’re just true.
Habits and routines: Wes Anderson often works with the same actors, like Bill Murray. Mahershala Ali usually plays quietly authoritative characters. This is what someone does again and again, not what they’re doing this minute.
Fixed schedules and timetables: even when the event is in the future, a fixed schedule takes the present simple: The new Downton Abbey sequel opens in cinemas next Friday. The Cannes Film Festival starts on 14 May.
🎬 Compare: “Viola Davis often plays powerful, commanding characters” (a habit, repeated across dozens of films) vs. “I think Viola Davis has never given a bad performance” (an opinion held right now, not repeated at all).
Both use the present simple. Verbs for opinions and feelings — think, love, believe, know — behave like facts in English, even when they’re really about this exact moment.
That last point trips a lot of learners up: English doesn’t switch tense just because a feeling is happening “now”. I love the ending of La La Land is present simple, not “I am loving” — feelings verbs stay in the present simple almost always.
How to build it
Statements & negatives
Luca Guadagnino directs Call Me By Your Name.
He doesn’t direct comedies.
doesn’t/don’t + base verb (no -s after doesn’t)Wes Anderson’s films use symmetrical shots.
plural subject → no -sQuestions with Do/Does
Does Chloé Zhao direct horror films too?
Does + he/she/it + base verb (no -s on the verb)Do the Planet of the Apes films star Andy Serkis?
Do + I/you/we/they/plural + base verbWhen to use which
Habits & routines
- Every awards season, the Oscars broadcast live from Los Angeles.
- Alfonso Cuarón usually shoots using long, unbroken takes.
- Wes Anderson often casts Bill Murray in his films.
- Marvel Studios releases several films every year.
Facts, feelings & schedules
- Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times still makes audiences laugh nearly a century later.
- I love the visual style of Wes Anderson’s films.
- The Cannes Film Festival runs every May.
- The Ex Machina anniversary screening starts at 7pm on Friday.
Signal words: your instant clue
These words almost always travel with the present simple — spot one and you know which tense to reach for.
Visual guide
👉 Swipe through Teacher Teddy’s 6-slide illustrated guide to this rule
Common mistakes
❌ Damien Chazelle direct amazing films.
✅ Damien Chazelle directs amazing films.
He/she/it needs the -s in the present simple — it’s easy to forget with a name instead of “he”.
❌ Does Wes Anderson directs quirky comedies?
✅ Does Wes Anderson direct quirky comedies?
The -s only appears once. “Does” already carries it, so the main verb stays in its base form.
❌ Colin Firth don’t like violent films.
✅ Colin Firth doesn’t like violent films.
He/she/it takes “doesn’t”, not “don’t” — the same rule as the -s ending.
❌ Netflix studys viewer habits closely.
✅ Netflix studies viewer habits closely.
Verbs ending in a consonant + y change y to ies for he/she/it: study → studies, like Netflix, try → tries.
Exceptions & tricky cases
A handful of quirks make the present simple a little trickier than “just add -s” — worth knowing early.
1. Fixed schedules can be about the future. A timetable or programme uses the present simple even when the event hasn’t happened yet.
✅ The next Kingsman film opens next month. (it’s on a fixed release schedule, so no future tense needed)
2. Stative verbs skip the continuous almost entirely. Verbs about thoughts, feelings and senses — like, love, believe, know, understand, want — normally stay in the present simple, even describing this exact moment.
✅ I understand why critics love Amour. (not “I am understanding”)
3. “Do” can be both the helper and the main verb. In a question about doing stunts, “do” appears twice with two different jobs.
✅ Does Charlize Theron do her own stunts? (Does = auxiliary; do = main verb, meaning “perform”)
4. Irregular he/she/it forms don’t follow the -s rule at all. A few very common verbs change shape completely: have → has, go → goes, do → does.
✅ The Marvel Cinematic Universe has more than 30 films. (never “haves”)
Practice: choose the right form
Eight quick questions on the present simple. Pick the answer you’d actually say — you get the explanation either way.
1. Charlie Kaufman ___ his own screenplays.
He/she/it in the present simple needs -s: writes.
2. ___ Michelle Yeoh do her own stunts?
“Michelle Yeoh” is he/she/it, so the question needs “Does”.
3. Wes Anderson ___ symmetrical shots in his films.
“Wes Anderson” is he/she/it → verb takes -s: uses.
4. The Terminator films ___ Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator.
“The Terminator films” is plural, so no -s: star.
5. Céline Sciamma ___ direct horror films.
He/she/it → doesn’t, not don’t.
6. I ___ The Handmaiden is one of the best films of the decade.
“Think” as an opinion is a stative verb — present simple, not continuous.
7. Netflix ___ viewer habits to recommend new films.
Consonant + y → ies: study becomes studies.
8. The Cannes Film Festival ___ every May.
A yearly fact about the festival, he/she/it (the festival) → runs.
Keep going
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