It can be difficult to know when to use the simple present and when to use other forms of the present tense. There are four main ways that you can use the simple present.
Repeated Activities
Use the simple present to talk about things that happen all the time, or about routines and habits or scheduled events.
I eat breakfast at 7:00 every morning.
Piano lessons start at 4:00 and finish at 5:00.
They ride their motorbike to work every day.
My family eats dessert together every night.
Facts and Information
Use the simple present to give facts, definitions and information, or to talk about general truths and thoughts.
Tests are very stressful.
Iceland has more than 100 volcanoes.
The word gigantic means "very big."
Tarsiers have very big, round eyes.
States and Conditions
Some verbs, called stative verbs, do not express an action. When you use these verbs to talk about conditions and the way things are, like physical descriptions, feelings, relationships, beliefs and knowledge. Some common stative verbs that you might see are be, have, seem, like, want, know, understand, believe, own. When using these verbs, you may use the simple present.
| She is tall with long, red hair. | I don't understand this. |
| You seem happy today. | We want a dog or a cat. |
| I belong to many clubs at my school. | You like fruits and vegetables. |
| They know the answer. | He believes me. |
Frequency
Frequency means how often something happens. We use words called adverbs of frequency to talk about how often something happens. From not very often to very often, these words include:
| never | seldom | rarely | occasionally | sometimes | usually | often | frequently | always |
Use the simple present with these adverbs of frequency. Usually the adverb comes before the main verb, but after the verb 'be.'
She usually sleeps in the afternoon.
They are seldom alone.
I often hug my brother.
It always snows in January.
