Present Simple (Indefinite) in Proverbs and Sayings worksheet

Seven exercises on Present Simple (Present Indefinite) based on proverbs and sayings. Key included if necessary.

Exercise 1
Read these proverbs and sayings. Memorize them.  Pay attention to the forms of the third person singular of the verbs in the Present Simple Tense. Think of equivalents in your language.

1. Plenty is no plague.
2. Rats desert a sinking ship.
3. The exception proves the rule.
4. A bargain is a bargain.
5. Every bullet has its billet.
6. Lies have short legs.
7. Time and tide wait for no man.
8. Time flies.
9. Extremes meet.
10. Tastes differ.
11. Money has no smell.
12. The customer is always right.
13. Courtesy costs nothing.
14. A bad penny always comes back.

Exercise 2
Complete the following proverbs and sayings. Use the Present Simple  Tense. Consult the reference list below.

1. Cheapest …
2. Prosperity makes friends, but …
3. The dogs bark, but …
4. It never rains but …
5. Money is a good servant but …
6. He laughs best …
7. He travels the fastest …
8. We soon believe what …
9. Everything comes to him …
10. Too many cooks spoil …
11. A watched pot never …

(is the dearest; adversity tries them; the caravan goes on; it pours; a bad master; who laughs last; who travels alone; we desire; who waits; the broth; boils)

Exercise 3
Open the brackets and put the verb in the Present Simple form.

1. Experience (to be) the mother of wisdom.
2. Actions (to speak) louder than words.
3. The end (to crown) the work.
4. Still waters (to run) deep.
5. Birds of a feather (to flock) together.
6. When pigs (to fly).
7. The early bird (to catch) the worm.
8. Familiarity (to breed) contempt.
9. Idleness (to rust) the mind.
10. Practice (to make) perfect.
11. Adversity (to make) strange bedfellows.
12. Tastes (to differ).

Exercise 4
Put in the blank spaces of the following sentences the negative form of the verbs given in brackets at the end. Use the Present Simple Tense.

1. If you ... anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. (to have)
2. Clothes … the man. (to make)
3. Two wrongs ... a right. (to make)
4. You ... where you eat. (to shit)
5. Money … on trees. (to grow)
6. The devil … so black as he is painted. (to be)

Exercise 5
Comment on the use of the Present Simple Tense in the following quotation.

1. Earth laughs in flowers. (R. Emerson)
2. Things do not change; we change. (H. Thoreau)
3. Labour conquers all things. (Homer)
4. Posterity pays every man his honour. (B. Jonson)
5. Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. (T. Edison)
6. Every man has three characters: that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has. (A. Karr)

Exercise 6
Comment on the use of the adverbs of time and frequency in the following proverbs.

1. You never know.
2. One is never too old to learn.
3. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
4. A leopard never changes its spots.
5. One pair of heels is often worth two pairs of hands.
6. The biter is sometimes bit.
7. Desert and reward seldom keep company.

Exercise 7
Insert "never", "always", "often", "sometimes" in the following proverbs and sayings. Make sure you put the adverb in the right place.

1. A bully is coward.
2. A watched pot boils.
3. Tomorrow comes.
4. The biter is bit.
5. A constant guest is welcome.
6. Opportunity knocks twice.
7. Barking dogs bite.
8. It rains but it pours.
9. It is too late to mend.
10. A bad penny comes back.
11. The morning sun lasts a day.
12. The customer is right.
13. One pair of heels is worth two pairs of hands.

The key to exercise 7:
A bully is always a coward; A watched pot never boils; Tomorrow always comes; The biter is sometimes bit; A constant guest is never welcome; Opportunity never knocks twice; Barking dogs never bite; It never rains but it pours; It is never too late to mend; A bad penny always comes back; The morning sun never lasts a day; The customer is always right; One pair of heels is often worth two pairs of hands.

• Worksheets
• See 'Using Present Indefinite Tense through Dialogues ' page