1.Introduction :-   Present Indefinite Tense

 

Present Indefinite Tense , also known as Simple Present Tense, is used to describe habitual  truth, universal truth, scientific facts, scheduled event ,fixed plan, stative verbs, actions we do regularly etc.       

𝟮. Helping verbs :- Do/Does 

  In Present Indefinite Tense , We have two helping verbs .   1. Do    and  2. Does                                                       (1)  Do is used with plural number  noun subjects and with the  personal pronoun    I, we, you and they.

   We can understand it with the following examples   

 1. I do not eat mango.                                     

2. We do not play games in the morning     

 3.You do not help me.                                       

4. They do not know me                                                           

 5. Girls do not  take tea.                                                                                                              

 (2) Does is used with singular number noun   and the pronouns he, she and it.

         Have a look at the following sentences to understand it more clearly.

• He does not take coffee.                                                       
•  She does not play in the morning.                                     
•  It rains in July in India.                                                         
•  Aman plays games with his younger brother.     

3. Main verb :Present indefinite Tense

Present Indefinite Tense is simple to use. However ,it can be confusing when used with  third person,  singular number subjects.
                In Present Indefinite Tense we use either

             (1) First form of verb     or    (2) First form of verb (+s or +es) .

                                   1.Where to use  first form of verb                                

      If the subject of a sentence is plural number, we have to use  first form of verb. 

      We can simplify the  rule. With personal pronoun, I, we, you and they and the plural  number    nouns , 

      we have to use only first form of verb.   We can understand it with the below given  sentences.   

•  I play video games.                                                               
• We go to market on Sunday.                                                   
•  You watch TV in the evening.                                             
•  They eat bananas in the morning.                     

    These are the four personal pronouns , with them we use  first form of verb. 

•  Girls go to library daily.                                                         
•  The farmers grow crops in the field.

          2. Where to use first form of verb(+s or  +es.)

 

Many learners forget to add “s” or “es” to verbs in the third person singular form. As a result, they make grammatical mistakes.

To avoid this, let’s understand the rule carefully.

There are two conditions for using the first form of the verb + s or es. Both conditions must be fulfilled.

Condition 1: The subject must be singular.
Condition 2: The subject must be in the third person.

If both conditions are met, we use the first form of the verb + s or es.

We can simplify this rule:

➤ Use the first form of the verb + s or es with singular nouns and the personal pronouns he, she, and it.

Examples:

1. He takes coffee.

2. She cooks food.

3. It rains in July in India.

4. Seema goes to the market on Sunday.

5. Aman watches TV daily in the evening.

6. My friend passes the exam with no extra effort.

7. The mechanic fixes my car carefully.

        8.The hen hatches her eggs on the ground  

  In the above sentences, you can see that in sentences 1, 2, and 3, only “s” is added to the verb:

• take → takes

• cook → cooks

• rain → rains

Whereas in sentences 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, “es” is added:

• go → goes

• watch → watches

• pass → passes

• fix → fixes

• hatch → hatches

The subjects in all of the above sentences are singular and third person, so we follow the subject-verb agreement rule.

But there is a difference in the verb endings:

In sentences 1, 2, and 3, the verb simply ends in a regular consonant or vowel, so we add only “s”.

 In sentences 4 to 8, we add “es” because the verbs end with certain letters.

Rule:

If the subject is third person singular, and the verb ends in:
o, s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z,
then we add “es” to the verb.

 Examples:

  4. Time adverbs: – Present indefinite Tense

        

Time adverbs play a very important role in identifying the Present Indefinite Tense.

In this tense, the following adverbs are commonly used:

➡️ always, never, usually, daily, seldom, often,
➡️ generally, sometimes, regularly, frequently
➡️ every (day, week, month, year, etc.)
➡️ each (day, week, month, year, etc.)

Examples:

1. He always drinks tea in the morning.

2. I never eat junk food.

3. She usually walks to school.

4. We go to the gym daily.

5. They sometimes play cricket in the evening.

6. My father reads the newspaper every day.

7. The teacher checks homework each week.

  5. Sentence structure of present indefinite Tense                               

          1. Affirmative sentence structure

             Subject +verb Ist form/verb Ist form(+s or + es ) + object .

    Note:- Helping verbs (do/does) are not used in affirmative sentences.
                 1. My brother learns English.                                               

                2. We go for a morning walk daily. 

           2. Negative sentence structure

Subject + do not /does not + verb Ist form + object.                               

                1. They do not like onion.                                                         

                2. He does not like football.                               

       3. Interrogative Sentence structure  

 

                Interrogative sentences are of two types .

                First type :- Starts with helping verb

                (i)  Do / Does + subject + Verb  Ist form + object ?

               Second type :- starts with “wh” word (interrogative word)

                  (ii)”Wh”word +Do/Does + subject + Verb Ist form + object ?

• Why does he go to market daily? 
• When does she play games?

    6. Uses of Present Indefinite Tense :-    

As we have learned, the Present Indefinite Tense (also called the Simple Present Tense) is used to describe:

• Universal truths

• Habits

• Routines

• Actions we do regularly

• Facts and Scientific facts

• Scheduled or fixed events

• Stative verbs (verbs that describe emotions, senses, and possession)

   Let’s understand this clearly with examples:

1. I practice yoga every morning.
   (Shows habit or routine)

2. She checks emails at work regularly.
   (Shows regularity)

3. Water freezes at 0°C.
   (Scientific fact)

4. The Moon gives light.
   (Universal truth)

5. The Sainik Express departs at 7 PM.
   (Scheduled event)

6. The class starts at 9 AM.
   (Fixed plan or timetable)

7. We love music.
   (Stative verb – emotion)

8. He hates smoking.
   (Stative verb – emotion)

   7.     Exercise:-                Test yourself              

                 1.  My father ————smoke/smokes daily.

                  2. The lion ————live/ lives    in forest.

                 3.  The cow ———eat/eats grass.

                 4. My friends      ——-play/plays with me.

                 5. We ——–do not / does not  ——-sing/ sings  daily.

                 6. Girls ———–do not / does not water plants.

                  7. Why ——-do/ does  he  ——go/goes to market daily?

                  8. ——–do/ does  i——–write/writes    a story daily?

                  9.   ——-do/ does    your brother ——-take/takes tea?

                  10. Birds     ——fly/flies     in the sky.   

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