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Present Simple Tense – Through real-life English

Learning English Through Real-World Events and Global Issues

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A. Study This Situation

Let’s imagine, Maria is a climate scientist.

Right now, she is sleeping.

She is not working now.

But she works as a climate scientist.

We use the Present Simple Tense to talk about jobs, facts, routines, and things that happen regularly.

Form

Subject	Verb
I / You / We / They	work, study, help, discuss
He / She / It	works, studies, helps, discusses

NOTE: It is essential to know the exact idea of ‘he, she, it and they’ Extended forms Click on to know more

Examples

• I work for a community project.
• They discuss global health issues.
• She works in renewable energy.
• He studies environmental science.

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B. Present Simple for Facts and General Truths

We use the Present Simple to talk about things that are generally true.

Examples from Real Life

• Doctors treat patients in hospitals.
• Journalists report important world events.
• The Earth moves around the Sun.
• Solar panels produce clean energy.
• Many countries invest in renewable energy.
• International organizations support disaster relief efforts.

More Examples

Subject	Verb
I work	She works
They help	He helps
We teach	It teaches
You study	It affects

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C. Questions and Negatives

We use do and does for questions.

Questions

Subject	Question Form
I/you/we/they	Do + subject + verb?
he/she/it	Does + subject + verb?

Examples

• Do governments support clean energy?
• Do students use digital learning tools?
• Does the city recycle plastic waste?
• Does the organization provide emergency aid?

Short Answers

• Yes, they do.
• No, they don’t.
• Yes, she does.
• No, he doesn’t.

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Negative Sentences

Subject	Negative Form
I/you/we/they	don’t + verb
he/she/it	doesn’t + verb

Examples

• Many scientists don’t ignore climate data.
• The charity doesn’t charge poor families.
• Some regions don’t receive enough rainfall.
• The program doesn’t require special equipment.

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D. Present Simple for Habits and Routines

We often use these time expressions:

• every day
• every week
• every year
• usually
• often
• sometimes
• rarely
• always

Examples

• Many people check the news every morning.
• Environmental groups organize clean-up drives every month.
• The United Nations holds meetings regularly.
• Students usually use online resources for research.
• Scientists often publish new findings.
• Some countries celebrate Earth Day every year.

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E. Verbs Used in Speeches and Public Communication

Sometimes we do something by speaking.

Examples

• I promise to complete the project.
• I agree with the proposal.
• I suggest a different solution.
• I advise people to save water.
• I apologize for the mistake.
• I refuse to spread misinformation.

In Public Speeches

Leaders often say:

• “I promise to improve education.”
• “I agree that climate action is important.”
• “I suggest stronger international cooperation.”

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Common Present Simple Expressions from Global News

Expression	Meaning
takes action	does something to solve a problem
raises awareness	helps people understand an issue
supports communities	helps local people
reduces emissions	lowers pollution
promotes peace	encourages harmony
protects wildlife	saves animals and nature
improves healthcare	makes health services better
provides aid	gives help
develops technology	creates new technology
addresses challenges	deals with problems

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Practice

Choose the correct answer.

1. Many countries ______ renewable energy projects.

a) support
b) supports
c) supporting

2. She ______ climate science at a university.

a) study
b) studies
c) studying

3. ______ international organizations provide disaster relief?

a) Does
b) Is
c) Do

4. The charity ______ food for families in need.

a) provide
b) provides
c) providing

5. He ______ believe false information online.

a) doesn’t
b) don’t
c) isn’t

6. Scientists often ______ research findings.

a) publish
b) publishes
c) publishing

Answers

1. a
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. a
6. a

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Quick Rule

✅ Use the Present Simple for:

• Facts
• Habits
• Routines
• Jobs
• Public statements
• General truths
• Regular events

Formula:

Subject + Verb

• They work.
• She works.

Negative:

Subject + don’t/doesn’t + Verb

• They don’t agree.
• He doesn’t agree.

Question:

Do/Does + Subject + Verb?

• Do they agree?
• Does she agree?

This tense helps us talk about the world, daily life, global issues, news events, and public actions in clear and simple English.

Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce natural-sounding speech and writing. Collocation runs through the whole of the English language. No piece of natural spoken or written English is completely free of collocation.

For example, we say “in a short time” and not “in a small time.”

Learning collocations helps us speak and write English more naturally and correctly.

Collocation with “Absence”

The word absence combines naturally with many other words.

1. Absence as a Noun + Adjective

Some common collocations are:

lengthy absence

long absence

prolonged absence

brief absence

temporary absence

unauthorized absence

Examples

His prolonged absence worried the teachers.

After a brief absence, she returned to work.

The company took action against his unauthorized absence.

2. Absence in a Prepositional Phrase

We often use in someone’s absence.

Example

I did all the cooking in my wife’s absence.

More examples:

The class remained quiet in the teacher’s absence.

Decisions were made in the manager’s absence.

3. Absence as a Phrase

Conspicuous by one’s absence

Meaning: a noticeable or deliberate absence.

Example

The manager was conspicuous by his absence during the board meeting.

More examples:

The captain was conspicuous by his absence in the final match.

She was conspicuous by her absence at the family function.

Reference : Oxford Collocations dictionary for students of English

End of the topic 3

Topic 2 Essential Grammar Concepts (ideas)

Topic 2A – Knowing the Idea of the Subject in English Grammar is highly essential

Getting an idea of the subject is very essential in making sentences in English. The Term subject has different meanings in different contexts, in this lesson, the term subject is a person place, or anything (anything: physical or virtual). A subject may be a single letter word for example: ‘I’ or a group of words ‘The President of India‘. Usually in an English sentence, the subject comes at the beginning of a sentence for example:

Stars are far away.

She is a singer.

In some sentences, the subject is left out, for example:

sit quietly. (= you sit quietly)

Don’t move from here, till I say. (= you don’t move from here till I say)

Subject may come in the middle or at the end of a sentence too for example:

May God bless you. (A bessing sentence)

May you live longer? (A blessing sentence)

Topic 2B – Subject can be a letter e.g. ‘I’ or , word or group of words. In the image below the bold letters indicate the subject of the sentence

Topic 2C – Why do we need to convert Subject to it’s pronoun form?

In a sentence every subject is followed by a verb (A verb is an important word in a  sentence) wrong choice of a verb would make the sentence awful.

I am a teacher  (I= subject, am = verb) – The subject ‘I‘ agrees with the verb ‘am’ (I >am)

They are my friends (They = subject, are = verb) The subject ‘they’ agrees with the verb ‘are’ (They > are)

Mary works for a Bank (Mary = subject, works = verb). The subject ‘Mary’ agrees with the verb ‘works’

(Mary > works)

We talk about hundreds of subjects in our day-to-day conversations, for example, we talk about weather, education, government, friends, price-rise, travel, etc., now a question arises how to find suitable verbs for each subject? To solve this problem it’s a good idea to convert the subject into its pronoun form mentally before speaking or writing and reconvert them into their original form during the speech or writing. This conversion would help us to choose a suitable verb for any subject under the sun.

For example, when you speak about a bank mentally think of its pronoun form (it)

e.g. 1. A bank is a place to keep our cash safely (A bank = it is a place to keep our cash safely)

2. Mother Teresa was an Indian (Mother Teresa = she was an Indian)

Topic 2D – Conversion of a subject to its pronoun form

Topic 2E – A subject may take several noun forms, look at the following examples:

Topic 2F – Extended forms of the subjects ‘he, she, it and they’

Back to headline

Topic 2G – Introduction to Verbs in English

A verb is a word used to describe an action, occurrence, or state of being. Verbs are essential components of sentences because they express what the subject does, experiences, or is. Another simple definition of the verb is ‘ It’s the most important word in a sentence’)

Types of Verbs (Note only essential verbs: Action verbs, Modal verbs and Helping verbs)

1. Action Verbs

• Definition: Express actions that a subject performs.
• Examples: run, write, jump, think, eat
• Types of Action Verbs:
  • Transitive Verbs: Require an object to complete their meaning.
    • Example: She reads a book. (reads acts on the object book.)
  • Intransitive Verbs: Do not require an object.
    • Example: He runs every morning. (runs does not act on an object.)

NOTE: Action verbs are categorized into regular and Irregular Verbs

• Regular Verbs: Form their past tense and past participle by adding “-ed” or “-d.”
  • Example: talk → talked
• Irregular Verbs: Form their past tense and past participle in unpredictable ways.
  • Example: go → went → gone

You can get a printout of irregular verbs from any web resources, regular verbs printout is not necessary as they are easy to make.

2. Linking Verbs

• Definition: Connect the subject to more information about the subject (a subject complement). These verbs do not show action.
• Examples: be, seem, become, appear, feel
• Example in a sentence: She is a doctor. (is links the subject she to the complement doctor.)

3. Helping (Auxiliary) Verbs

Look at this sentence: She is a teacher:

She is a teacher (‘is’ the only verb in the sentence so it’s the main verb)

He reads newspaper daily (‘reads’ is the only verb in the sentence so it’s the main verb)

She is teaching English. (Therre are two verbs in this sentence: is and teaching) the verb is helps the main verb teach so that it can behave like a continuous action verb. Is plays a role of helping, so it’s called helping or auxiliary verb.

NOTE: A verb like ‘do’ can acat as a main verb as well as helping verb in a same sentence, for example

What do-1 you do-2 for a lving? (The first do is a helping verb as it helps the senences to bcome a question and the second do act a main verb)

In short helping verbs help the main verbs to behave like a question sentencce, a negative sentencce

• Definition: Help the main verb to form tense, mood, or voice.
• Examples: is, are, was, were, have, has, do, will, shall
• Example in a sentence: They are running late. (are helps the main verb running to show present continuous tense.)

4. Modal Verbs – (A unique thing about these verbs is that they need not agree with the subject of a sentence so it’s easier to make sentences with Modal verbs for the begnners, a separate topic will be introduced soon)

• Definition: A type of auxiliary verb that expresses necessity, possibility, permission, or ability.
• Examples: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would
• Example in a sentence: You must study for the exam.

5. Stative Verbs

• Definition: Describe a state or condition rather than an action.
• Examples: know, believe, like, own, belong
• Example in a sentence: She knows the answer.

6. Dynamic Verbs

• Definition: Express physical or mental actions.
• Examples: run, think, eat, sing
• Example in a sentence: He sings beautifully.

7. Phrasal Verbs

• Definition: Verbs combined with prepositions or adverbs, often changing the verb’s meaning.
• Examples: look after, give up, break down
• Example in a sentence: She gave up smoking.

Understanding these types of verbs helps in constructing meaningful and grammatically correct sentences.

End of the topic 2

Topic 1 – Essential Grammar Ideas (will be updated soon)

Personal Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns & Reflexive (Emphatic) Pronouns

S.No	Subject Pronoun	Object Pronoun	Possessive-1 (Adjective)	Possessive-2 (Pronoun)	Emphatic / Reflexive Pronoun	Tamil Meaning
1	I	me	my	mine	myself	நான், என்னை, என், என்னுடையது, நானே
2	we	us	our	ours	ourselves	நாம்/நாங்கள், எங்களை, எங்கள், எங்களுடையது, நாங்களே
3	you	you	your	yours	yourself	நீ, உன்னை, உன், உன்னுடையது, நீயே
4	you	you	your	yours	yourselves	நீங்கள், உங்களை, உங்கள், உங்களுடையது, நீங்களே
5	he	him	his	his	himself	அவன், அவனை, அவன், அவனுடையது, அவனே
6	she	her	her	hers	herself	அவள், அவளை, அவள், அவளுடையது, அவளே
7	it	it	its	its	itself	அது, அதை, அதன், அதனுடையது, அதுவே
8	they	them	their	theirs	themselves	அவர்கள், அவர்களை, அவர்களின், அவர்களுடையது, அவர்களே
9	who	whom	whose	—	—	யார், யாரை, யாருடைய

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Lesson: Using Subject, Object, Possessive and Reflexive Pronouns

1 I saw him in the market.
நான் அவனை சந்தையில் பார்த்தேன்.

2 He helped me with my project.
அவன் என் திட்டத்திற்கு எனக்கு உதவினான்.

3 This book is mine.
இந்த புத்தகம் என்னுடையது.

4 I completed the work myself.
நானே அந்த வேலையை முடித்தேன்.

5 We invited them to our house.
நாங்கள் அவர்களை எங்கள் வீட்டிற்கு அழைத்தோம்.

6 The victory is ours.
இந்த வெற்றி எங்களுடையது.

7 We prepared the report ourselves.
நாங்களே அறிக்கையைத் தயாரித்தோம்.

8 You gave me your pen.
நீ உன் பேனாவை எனக்கு கொடுத்தாய்.

9The decision is yours.
முடிவு உன்னுடையது.

10 You should trust yourself.
நீ உன்னையே நம்ப வேண்டும்.

11 She called him and gave her opinion.
அவள் அவனை அழைத்து தனது கருத்தை கூறினாள்.

12 That handbag is hers.
அந்த கைப்பை அவளுடையது.

13 The solved the problem herself.
அவளே அந்த பிரச்சினையைத் தீர்த்தாள்.

14 He repaired his bicycle himself.
அவனே தனது மிதிவண்டியை பழுது பார்த்தான்.

15 This is his laptop, and that one is hers.
இது அவனுடைய மடிக்கணினி; அது அவளுடையது.

16 The cat cleaned itself.
பூனை தன்னைத்தானே சுத்தம் செய்தது.

17 Its tail is very long.
அதன் வால் மிகவும் நீளமாக உள்ளது.

18 They invited us to their office.
அவர்கள் எங்களை அவர்களின் அலுவலகத்திற்கு அழைத்தார்கள்.

19 The success is theirs.
இந்த வெற்றி அவர்களுடையது.

20 They completed the task themselves.
அவர்களே அந்த பணியை முடித்தார்கள்.

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Quick Review Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the correct pronoun.

1. This car belongs to me. It is ________.
2. Ravi repaired the machine ________.
3. We completed the project by ________.
4. That house is ________ (belonging to them).
5. She gave ________ (I/me) her notebook.

Answers

1. mine
2. himself
3. ourselves
4. theirs
5. me

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Pronoun Formula

Subject + Verb + Object

➡ I saw him.
➡ நான் அவனை பார்த்தேன்.

Subject + Possessive-1 + Noun

➡ My book is new.
➡ என் புத்தகம் புதியது.

Subject + Verb + Possessive-2

➡ The book is mine.
➡ புத்தகம் என்னுடையது.

Subject + Verb + Emphatic Pronoun

➡ She did it herself.
➡ அவளே அதைச் செய்தாள்.

This lesson helps learners understand how English pronouns correspond to Tamil forms and how they are used naturally in sentences.

Possessive-1 vs Possessive-2

(Same Context – Two Different Sentence Patterns)

Possessive-1 (with a noun)	Possessive-2 (without repeating the noun)	Tamil Translation
1. This is my book.	This book is mine.	இது என் புத்தகம். / இந்த புத்தகம் என்னுடையது.
2. That is her car.	That car is hers.	அது அவளுடைய கார். / அந்த கார் அவளுடையது.
3. These are our bags.	These bags are ours.	இவை எங்கள் பைகள். / இந்த பைகள் எங்களுடையவை.
4. Is this your pen?	Is this pen yours?	இது உன் பேனாவா? / இந்த பேனா உன்னுடையதா?
5. Their house is large.	That house is theirs.	அவர்களின் வீடு பெரியது. / அந்த வீடு அவர்களுடையது.

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Rule to Remember

Possessive-1 + Noun

• my book
• your pen
• her car
• our bags
• their house

Pattern:
Possessive-1 + Noun

Example:
My book is new.
என் புத்தகம் புதியது.

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Possessive-2 (No Noun After It)

• mine
• yours
• hers
• ours
• theirs

Pattern:
Noun + is/are + Possessive-2

Example:
This book is mine.
இந்த புத்தகம் என்னுடையது.

Quick Formula

Possessive-1	Possessive-2
my book	the book is mine
your pen	the pen is yours
her car	the car is hers
our bags	the bags are ours
their house	the house is theirs

Easy Memory Trick:
Possessive-1 needs a noun after it.
Possessive-2 stands alone.

Singular and Plural concept

A Note about Nouns (countable and un countable)

Essential Grammatical terms (e.g. noun, verb)