Chapter 16: Feeling Tense? Sorting Out Verb Tenses 229
1st person singular 1
2nd person singular and plural you
3rd person singular he/she/it
1st person plural we
3rd person plural they
The verb ‘to be’ changes the most according to the subject pronoun used
and I list these different forms of the verb in Chapter 15. With other verbs,
point out to your students that sentences referring to he/she/it in the present
tenses change form. After he/she/it you add an ‘s’ or ‘es’.
Present Simple
He/she/it likes/goes/wants
Present continuous
I am looking/driving
You/we/they are looking/driving
He/she/it is looking/driving
The verb ‘to have’ is irregular. The third person singular form in the present
simple tense is has. You use has for he/she/it in the present perfect simple and
continuous too.
Present Perfect
He /she/it has gone/has sold
Present Perfect continuous
He/she/it has been going/has been selling
Beginning with the Present Simple
You use the present simple tense to describe an action that happens generally
or is generally true.
So it’s typical to teach the present simple in the context of hobbies, prefer-
ences and routines, along with adverbs of frequency such as: always, usually,
often, sometimes, occasionally, rarely and never.
Students can pair up and ask each other questions about their daily lives:
What do you usually do in the evening?
I often watch TV but I never go to the pub.
