Present Simple

Present Simple Use

Present simple has two main uses in English:

1.  Things which are always true:

This can include general facts:

'The earth takes 365 days to go around the sun'

Or long term / permanent plans of our own:

'We live in London'       'We have 3 children'

2.  Long term habits, things which we do again and again:

'I play tennis every Wednesday evening'

So present simple mainly talks about long term or permanent things, but there are some verbs which are nearly always used in the present simple:

1.  Verbs of feelings and emotions.  The following verbs usually use the present simple even for short term things:

love / hate / like / enjoy /prefer

'I like tennis'  'I prefer red wine to white wine'

2. Verbs for giving our opinions:

think / believe / feel / understand

'I think that your new shirt looks great!'   'I'm sorry I don't understand the question'

3. Verbs of the senses:

see / look / sound / smell / taste / feel

'You look nice tonight'     'His voice sounds a little bit strange' 

Present simple can also be used to talk about the future:

Here present simple talks about official timetabled plans in the future, plans which we cannot change:

'Our plane leaves at 12 o clock'

'The meeting starts at 3pm tomorrow'