Present Simple – Texts and Dialogues

This page contains 4 easy texts for reading and 11 dialogues. I hope this worksheet will help students to see how to use Present Simple (Present Indefinite) Tense in the right ways and put grammar learning into context.

Present Indefinite Exercises

These drills are designed to practise the Present Simple (also known as 'the Present Indefinite'): 3rd person, positive and negative sentences, general and special questions.

Exercise I
Fill in the blanks. Pay attention to the third person singular.

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.

Using Present Indefinite Tense through Dialogues

• Contents → Grammar in Dialogues → Using Present Indefinite 

This page shows different ways of using the Present Indefinite through dialogues from English literature.

The Present Indefinite mainly expresses permanent or recurrent actions in the present.

I

a) We find permanent actions or states with durative verbs. They generally indicate continuous uninterrupted or repeated processes representing permanent features and relationships. They give a general characteristic to the person or thing denoted by the subject. Time indications are not obligatory in this case.

Illustrative Examples:

1. Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher stay at school after classes and talk about their likes and dislikes.

Tom: Do you love rats?
Becky: No, I hate them!
Tom: Well, I do, too — live ones. But I mean dead ones, to swing round your head with a string.
Becky: No, I don't care for rats much, anyway. What I like is chewing-gum!..
Tom: Do you? I've got some. I'll let you chew it awhile, but you must give it back to me.

(M. Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)