Present continuous tense examples

What is the simple present?

The simple present (also called present simple) is the basic present tense in English.

It expresses facts, sequential and repeated actions and timetabled future events.

It is one of the most commonly used tenses in the English language.

Read on to learn when to use the simple present and how to conjugate it, then practise using this tense in the exercises.

When to use simple present

We use the simple present tense for:

• facts

  Example:

  Mona is a student.

  She studies biology.

• repeated actions and routines (signal words: every, always, often …)

  Example:

  On Saturdays, she works in a shop.

• a list of actions that happen one after the other

  Example:

  She gets home, makes a cup of tea then does her homework.

• schedules and timetables (also for the future)

  Example:

  Her class starts at 9 am tomorrow.

Signal words for the simple present tense

The following are signal words for the simple present:

• always, normally, usually
• often, sometimes, seldom
• never
• every d
  simple present tense is used to express
  simple present tense is used to describe