Le présent simple est utilisé:
-
pour exprimer des habitudes, des vérités générales, des actions répétées ou des situations immuables, des émotions et des désirs :
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth) -
pour donner des instructions ou des directives :
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left. -
pour exprimer des dispositions fixes, présentes ou futures :
Your exam starts at 09.00 -
pour exprimer le futur, après certaines conjonctions : after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
ATTENTION ! Le présent simple n'est pas utilisé pour exprimer des actions qui se déroulent au moment présent.
Exemples
-
Pour les habitudes
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly. -
Pour les actions répétées
We catch the bus every morning.
It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
They drive to Monaco every summer. -
Pour les vérités générales
Water freezes at zero degrees.
The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Her mother is Peruvian.
-
Pour les instructions et les directions
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford. -
Pour des accords fixes
His mother arrives tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the 26th March -
Avec le futur
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.
Former le Présent simple : to think
| Affirmative | Interrogative | Négative |
|---|---|---|
| I think | Do I think? | I do not think |
| You think | Do you think? | You do not think |
| He thinks | Does he think? | He does not think |
| She thinks | Does she think? | She does not think |
| It thinks | Does it think? | It does not think |
| We think | Do we think? | We do not think. |
| They think | Do they think? | They do not think. |
Remarques sur le présent simple, troisième personne du singulier
-
Le verbe à la troisième personne du singulier "he, she, it"se termine toujours par -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks. -
Les formes négatives et les questions utilisent DOES (= troisième personne de l'auxiliaire 'DO') + l'infinitif du verbe.
He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla. -
Avec les verbes se terminant par -y le -y de la la troisième personne se transforme en -ies:
fly --> flies, cry --> cries
Exception: en cas de voyelle avant le -y:
play --> plays, pray --> prays -
Ajouter -es aux verbes se terminant par:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
Exemples
- He goes to school every morning.
- She understands English.
- It mixes the sand and the water.
- He tries very hard.
- She enjoys playing the piano.