#7 A1 PRESENT SIMPLE

 #7 A1- PRESENT SIMPLE

Hi, my name is Alison, welcome back to podcasts with English for French. Today, we are talking about an essential part of English grammar, the Present Simple Tense. We use this tense to describe things and people, our habits, general truths, permanent situations (where we work or live, for example), and facts. (Aujourd’hui on va parler du présent simple. On utilise ce temps pour décrire des choses et des gens, nos habitudes, les vérités générales, des situations permanentes, où on travaille, ou où on habite , et des faits.

Now, it is not as simple as its name suggests; it has a few little rules that every language learner should know. Today, we’re going to learn its three forms —positive statements, negative statements, and questions—plus, we'll look at the spelling rules that you need to know for pronunciation and writing.(Nous allons regarder les 3 formes, positive, négative et interrogative, et les règles à suivre pour bien prononcer et écrire ).

Here we go.

I: The Positive (The Rule of the 'S')

Let’s start with the basics. We use the Present Simple to talk about habits, routines, or things that are generally true. For example, "I drink tea every morning" or "Water boils at 100 degrees."

For most people—I, you, we, they—the verb stays completely normal; we call this the base verb or “BV”. You just say the verb with no conjugation necessary. On utilise pour ces pronoms la base verbale ou le verbe non conjugué.

• "I live in New York." (Verb ‘to live’)
• "They play tennis on weekends. (Verb ’to play’)

But here comes the rules. When we talk about a third person—he, she, or it—the verb needs to be conjugated . We have to add an -s, -es, or -ies to the end. Missing that 's' is the number one mistake a lot of learners make, so try to train your ear to listen for it!

Now, you don't always just add the letter "S" onto the end of every verb. Spelling in English has its exceptions. Let’s break down the three official spelling rules for third-person verbs:

• Rule 1: The Standard "S"

For about 80% of English verbs, just add a regular -s.

• • Walk becomes Walks ➔ "He walks to work every day."
  • Speak becomes Speaks ➔ "She speaks fluent Japanese."

 

• Rule 2: The Hissing Sounds & O (Add "-es")

If a verb ends in a sound that sounds like a hiss, a buzz, or a pop—specifically -ch, -sh, -x, -ss, -z,ou-o, we add -es instead. This adds an extra syllable (-iz) to make it easy to pronounce. (Si le verbe finit par ces lettres on doit ajouter le -es qu’on prononce -iz).

• • Watch becomes Watches ➔ "He watches his favorite show on Tuesdays."
  • Wash becomes Washes ➔ "She washes her car on weekends."
  • Go becomes Goes ➔ "She goes to the gym at 6 AM."
• Rule 3: The Consonant + Y  (Change to "-ies")

Look closely at the letter right before a final -y. If it is a consonant (like d, l, r), the "Y" turns into an -ies.

• • Study becomes Studies ➔ "He studies English."
  • Fly becomes Flies ➔ "The bird flies south for winter."

⚠️ If there is a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) before the "Y", this rule does not apply! Just add a normal 's'. For example, play becomes plays ("He plays soccer") and buy becomes buys.

Act II: The Negative

Alright, making things negative. (Maintenant le negative)

In English, we can't just throw the word "not" directly onto a normal verb. We can't say, "I not live in New York." That sounds really bad to a native speaker. Instead, we have to call in a helper, also known as an auxiliary verb. That helper is do.(Pour conjuguer le présent simple au négatif, on a besoin d’une aide : les auxiliaires ; vous les avez également en français !)

To make a sentence negative, we combine do + not to get do not (or the contraction don't).

• "I don't like mushrooms."
• "We don't wake up early on Sundays."

But what happens to our third-person (he, she, it)? Well, that 'S' we just talked about is going to be added to the auxiliary , we conjugate auxiliaries in English not verbs , so much easier.! So do becomes does, and when we add "not", we get does not (or doesn't).

Because the 's' is already on the auxiliary, the main verb goes back to its normal form or base verb, verbs are lazy in English; the auxiliaries do all the work!. (Alors, pour la troisième personne, le ‘s’ ne s’ajoute plus au verbe, car on va utiliser (comme en français) un auxiliaire , qui, lui, va prendre le ‘s’ et la négation, et le verbe qui est paresseux en anglais retourne à sa forme de base verbale , non conjuguée.)

 Look at how this changes:

• "She doesn't like mushrooms." (Not: "She doesn't likes")
• "He doesn't wake up early." (Not: "He doesn't wakes")

Act III: Asking Questions

Finally, let’s talk about questions. To ask a question in the Present Simple, we use that exact same auxiliary, do or does, but we move it to the very front of the sentence.

The formula is simple: Auxiliary (Do/Does) + Subject + Main Verb?

Let's look at the standard subjects first:

• "Do you speak Spanish?"
• "Do they travel often?"

And for he, she, it, we use our friend does. Just like in the negative form, the main verb stays completely in its base form because does is already doing all the work.

• "Does she speak Spanish?"
• "Does it take a long time?"

The Cheat Sheet

So to conclude, let’s look at a complete table using a few different verbs so you can see all the rules in action.

Subject Type	Form	Default Verb (Work)	Hissing/-O Verb (Go)	Consonant + Y Verb (Study)
I / You / We / They	Positive Negative Question	I work here. I don't work here. Do you work here?	They go out. They don't go out. Do they go out?	We study English. We don't study English. Do we study English?
He / She / It	Positive Negative Question	She works here. She doesn't work here. Does she work here?	He goes out. He doesn't go out. Does he go out?	It studies data analysis. It doesn't study data analysis. Does it study data analysis.?

 

Sum up: The main verb only changes its ending in positive sentences for he/she/it. In negatives and questions, the auxiliary (does/doesn't) does the work, and the main verb stays in its base form, lazy form!! (Pour conclure, le verbe principal ne change que pour la troisième personne, he, she, it , en phrases positives  et pour la négation et les questions on utilise les auxiliaires « do et does » (He, she, it) et le verbe retourne en forme de base , paresseux !)

That’s all for today. Keep practicing, use the table to make sentences and questions. The Present Simple! You've seen it in all its forms, from spoken speech to written spelling. Go out there, practice using it in a conversation today, and listen out for those third-person rules

I hope you have enjoyed this podcast with me, Alison, at English for French. See you soon.

Cheers