Use
You use the simple present in two situations:
1. You use it to say that something (usually an action) is a regular routine, event or a fact:
- You always have lunch at 12.30 pm.
- It always does that.
- You never tell us about your parents.
- He sometimes calls me "Honey".
- We usually go to the cinema on the weekend.
All these sentences have special adverbials of frequency like always, never, seldom, rarely, every day, every week, every month, every year, sometimes, usually, normally, regularly, etc. These words often appear with and are an indicator of the simple present!
Be careful with the position of the adverbial: it comes before a main verb like eat, have, like, meet, see, come, call, go, but after the verb "to be":
- He always comes late. BUT He is always late.
- She never calls me back. BUT She is never at home when I call her.
- They sometimes come over to our place. BUT We are never at their place.
Also, there is one more exception: adverbials with
every like
every morning, every night, every day, every week, every month, every year, every time, … are placed at the end of the sentence:
- We meet our friends every weekend.
- They have dinner at 6.30 pm every night.
- He eats breakfast at 8 o'clock every morning.
2. You use the simple present to talk about a fact or a state like feelings, likes and dislikes that are true for a longer period of time:
- We live in New York.
- He hates vegetables.
- I love you.
- My English teacher is very nice.
- She likes chocolate.
- The dog is 5 years old.
- Her name is Anna.
- They have two cats.
Gebrauch
Du gebrauchst das Simple Present in zwei Situationen:
1. Du benutzt es, um zu sagen, dass etwas (normalerweise eine Aktion) ein regelmäßiger Ablauf, ein regelmäßiges Ereignis oder eine Tatsache ist:
- You always have lunch at 12.30 pm.
- It always does that.
- You never tell us about your parents.
- He sometimes calls me "Honey".
- We usually go to the cinema on the weekend.
All diese Sätze beinhalten besondere Adverbien der Häufigkeit wie always, never, seldom, rarely, every day, every week, every month, every year, sometimes, usually, normally, regularly, etc. Diese Wörter erscheinen oft in Verbindung mit dem Simple Present und sind ein Kennzeichen für diese Zeitform!
Beachte die Stellung des Adverbs: es steht vor einem Hauptverb wie eat, have, like, meet, see, come, call, go, aber nach dem Verb "to be":
- He always comes late. ABER He is always late.
- She never calls me back. ABER She is never at home when I call her.
- They sometimes come over to our place. ABER We are never at their place.
Es gibt außerdem eine weitere Ausnahme: Adverbien mit
every wie
every morning, every night, every day, every week, every month, every year, every time, … werden an das Satzende gestellt:
- We meet our friends every weekend.
- They have dinner at 6.30 pm every night.
- He eats breakfast at 8 o'clock every morning.
2. Du benutzt das Simple Present, um über eine Tatsache oder einen Zustand wie Gefühle, Vorlieben und Abneigungen, zu sprechen, die für einen längeren Zeitraum der Fall sind:
- We live in New York.
- He hates vegetables.
- I love you.
- My English teacher is very nice.
- She likes chocolate.
- The dog is 5 years old.
- Her name is Anna.
- They have two cats.
On Tuesday afternoon, she plays volleyball. To read again how to form the simple present, click here.