Present Simple: Erklärung, Bildung und Übung

Formation

Statements

Normally, the present simple takes the base form of the verb, i.e. the first form (=infinitive without to):

• John and Mustapha Mond talk about Shakespeare. (they talk)

However, if the verb refers to he, she or it (third person singular), it takes an "s" at the end of the word. This is the only case where the rule "He, she, it: das -s muss mit." is valid:

• John grows up in the Reservation. (he grows up)
• Lenina visits the Reservation. (she visits)

The verb to be has three different forms in the present simple, am, is, and are. Use am for I, is for he, she, it, and are for the other cases (you, we, and they).

Questions

Like with the past tense later on, you have to differentiate here between auxiliaries and the verb"to be" and other verbs. Note that the difference refers both to a change in word order and auxiliaries used. This change in word order is called subject verb inversion:

I am hungry. Am I hungry?

He can help Tim. Can he help Tim?

John wins. Does John win?

Questions with to be as main verb 

If a form of to be is used without any other verb, it stands before the subject and there is no auxiliary needed:

• You are happy at work. Are you happy at work?
• Where is John today?
• Paul is well again. Is Paul well again?

Questions with auxiliary verbs

When an auxiliary verb (as for example a modal auxiliary as can, must, may) is used, there is no additional auxiliary verb needed to build a question. The subject and the auxiliary word only need to be switched.

• Harry can play the guitar. Can Harry play the guitar?
• Susan may come to my party. May Susan come to my party?

Questions with main verbs 

Use the auxiliary do (does for the third person singular) in front of the subject. The subject is followed by the infinitive of the word (without to).

• How does John respond to Mustapha Mond's arguments?
• Do you agree?
• Does he enjoy his lessons?

Negatives

Likewise, you need to look at negatives the same way:

Negatives with forms of to be

Simply add not after the form of to be:

• Bernard Marx is not very tall.
• You are not happy at work.

Negatives with auxiliaries

When using auxiliaries as modal auxiliaries, you don't need another auxiliary verb to negate the sentence:

• Toby can play the piano very well.
• Toby can't/cannot play the piao very well.
• Sarah may not play football for five weeks.

Negatives with other verbs

Use do(es) not or the short form don't/doesn't between subject and verb. Note that do(es) is an auxiliary verb here. It tells the reader that you make a negative statement in the present simple; it does not mean "tun/machen" in this case. Use only the infinitive of the main verb because the required grammatical information is already expressed by the auxiliary verb.

• John doesn't understand Lenina's reaction.
• Bernard and Helmholtz don't want to leave John behind.

Hilfsverben (auxiliary verbs) treten in Verbindung mit Vollverben auf und haben eine grammatische Funktion, d.h. sie enthalten Informationen über Person, Zahl und Zeitform.

Bei Hilfsverben wird zwischen zwei Kategorien unterschieden:

1. primary verbs (be, have, do), die auch allein als Vollverb verwendet werden können. Sie bilden die dritte Person Singular mit -s: be=is; have:has; do=does

2. modal verbs (can, may, will, shall, must, could, might, would, should), die nicht allein als Vollverb benutzt werden können. Sie bilden die dritte Person Singular ohne -s: *mays; *wills; *cans; usw.