Present Simple Tense

The Present Simple Tense will be the part of the English grammar that we are going to study in the coming weeks.

We are going to focus:

1. on how the Present Simple is used to express routine actions and consequently
2. on its use with adverbs of frequency.

USE 1 Repeated Actions

Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.      

Examples:

·       I play tennis.

·       She does not play tennis.

·       Does he play tennis?

·       The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.

·       The train does not leave at 9 AM.

·       When does the train usually leave?

·       She always forgets her purse.

·       He never forgets his wallet.

·       Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.

·       Does the Sun circle the Earth?

From: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

Repeated actions

The present simple tense is very often used with adverbs of repeated time. Look at these examples (the adverbs are shown in bold):

• I always come to school by car.
• She frequently arrives here before me.
• He never forgets to do his homework.
• I often catch the late bus home.
• I play football on Saturdays.
• Once a year I fly back to visit my family in Korea.
• The classrooms are cleaned every evening after school.
• She sometimes loses her temper, but it doesn't happen very often.
• Do you ever eat in the cafeteria?
• Does your father speak English every day?

From: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/pressimp.htm

Click here http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/single/pressimp4.htm

 and learn how the Present Simple is used.

                                                
                                                    

PLACEMENT OF ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY 

Adverbs of Frequency

We use adverbs of frequency to say how often we do things. Adverbs of frequency go before all verbs EXCEPT the verb to be.

De menos a más:
Never – hardly ever – rarely (seldom) – sometimes – usually (often)- always
Note 1: Remember that with never and hardly ever we use POSITIVE sentences.
Example:
- We don’t never smoke. (INCORRECT)
- We never smoke.
Note 2: With don’t and doesn’t we use the adverb of frequency after these and before the verb.
Example:
- We don’t usually travel.
Note 3: Sometimes can go at the beginning of the sentence. (Sometimes puede ir al comienzo de una oración)
The adverbs of frequency answer the typical question starting with “How often”.
Examples:
1) How often do you brush your teeth?
I always brush my teeth
2) How often does your mother cook?
She seldom/rarely cooks.
3) How often is Claudio late for class.
He is never late for class
** How often = Con que frecuencia. Para decir la horas exacta uno tambien puede preguntar (What time?) Para responder la hora exacta utilizamos la preposicion “at” antes de la hora.
Ejemplo:
What time do you wake up?
I wake up at 7:00 am.

Now do the exercise on how the frequency adverbs are placed on the same site.

From: http://www.inglestotal.com/usos-y-reglas-del-present-simple-tense-tiempo-gramatical/

On this site you have lots of exercises on the Present Simple:

http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/present_simple.htm