Simple Present

The simple present or present simple is one of the present tenses used in modern English, the others being the present continuous and the emphatic present. It is called "present" because it is often (but not exclusively) used in referring to the present time, and it is called "simple" because it consists of only a single word. In the third person singular of the simple present it is formed (with two exceptions) by adding s or es to the bare infinitive, as in "He sees you", while in all other person/number combinations the present simple is identical to the bare infinitive, as in "They see you" or "I see you". The two exceptions are "to have" and "to be": "to have" retains the bare infinitive form outside the third person singular, but in the third person singular it uses "has" as in he has a car; "to be" uses "am" in the first person singular, "is" in the third person singular, and "are" in all other person/number combinations, as in I am here, you are here, she is here.

Usage

Declarative sentences

The simple present is often used to express habitual actions referring to no particular span of time, such as in He walks to school' The simple present is often employed in newspaper headlines instead of the present perfect:

Oldest man alive wins Olympic race

Stock markets crash

It is employed in if clauses referring to the future:

If he finds your sweets, he will eat them!

It is used when a planned event is described along with a time in the future:

We leave for Berlin tomorrow at 1:00.

It is used with stative verbs in referring to states (unchanging situations) that exist in the present:

I love you.

She needs us.

I know that.

It can also be used when making a citation:

The label says "External use only."

Questions

In a yes-no question, the simple present becomes compound, employing the auxiliary do:

Does she go there often?

When a question word starts a sentence, do is included if the question word is not the subject of the sentence:

"What does the man want to buy?"

But when the question word is the subject of the sentence, the simple form is retained:.

Who feeds the cat?

Distinction from continuous form

The continuous (progressive) verb form in English conveys that an action is ongoing, as in "She is running right now". So for evolving situations in the present, the simple present form is not used. In contrast, the simple present is used for present situations that are not evolving, as in "I know that", which cannot be rendered as "I am knowing that."

It is used instead of present continuous in certain situations in a sentence as a temporal adverbial clause: ..., as we speak.