Present & core tenses

I work · he works (add -s for he/she/it)

you live · she lives

we play · they play · he plays (vowel + y keeps -s)

he studies · she studies (consonant + y → -ies)

he goes · it goes (-o takes -es)

she watches (-ch takes -es)

he has · she has · it has (irregular)

Does she work here? — use 'does' + the base form (no -s on the verb).

He doesn't like tea. — 'doesn't' + the base form 'like'.

For habits, routines, general facts, permanent situations and timetables.

Only for the third person singular: he, she, it (and singular nouns).

'Does' already carries the -s, so the main verb stays in the base form: 'Does she work?'

Before the main verb (I always read) but after the verb 'to be' (I am always late).

Present simple = habits/facts (I work every day); present continuous = action now (I am working now).

am / is / are + the main verb with -ing (She is working).

I am · he/she/it is · you/we/they are.

I am studying · she is studying · they are studying.

making — drop the silent final -e before -ing.

running — double the final consonant after a single stressed short vowel.

lying — a final -ie becomes -y before -ing.

Put 'not' after the auxiliary: she is not (isn't) working.

Put the auxiliary first: Are you studying? · Is she working?

An action in progress now, a temporary situation around now, and a fixed future arrangement.

Verbs of state (know, want, like, need, believe) — they stay in the present simple, not the continuous.

Present simple — 'I go to school every day' (a permanent habit, not an action in progress).

now, at the moment, currently, these days, this week — actions around now.

The auxiliary is missing: 'She is cooking dinner now.'

'want' is stative — use the simple: 'I want a coffee.'

Add -ed to the base verb — the same for every subject: I/you/she/they worked.

worked · played · opened (regular: base + -ed).

lived · decided · arrived (verb ends in -e, so just add -d).

studied · tried · carried (consonant + y → -ied).

stopped · planned · travelled (double the final consonant).

went · saw · ate · had (irregular — no -ed; learn the form).

was (I/he/she/it) · were (you/we/they).

Did + subject + BASE verb …? — "Did you go?" (not "Did you went?").

subject + didn't + BASE verb — "I didn't see it" (not "I didn't saw it").

The BASE form, with no -ed and no irregular change: did + go, didn't + have.

yesterday, last week, two days ago — also: in 2019, when I was young, last night.

Past simple — a finished-time word needs the past simple: "I saw it yesterday", not "I have seen it yesterday".

"I went home." — "go" is irregular and never takes -ed.

"Did you go?" — after "did" the verb returns to its base form.

have/has + the past participle: I have finished, she has gone.

'has' (he/she/it has). 'have' goes with I/you/we/they.

gone (I have gone). NOT 'went' — 'went' is the past simple.

seen / done / eaten (I have seen, I have done, I have eaten).

written / taken / given (I have written, I have taken, I have given).

When the time is NOT stated (an experience) or the time period isn't over (today, this week) — the past still connects to now.

When you state exactly when: yesterday, last week, in 2019, when I was ten.

for + a duration (for three years); since + a point in time (since 2020, since Monday).

Something done sooner than expected, in positive sentences: 'I have already finished.'

Something expected but not done, in questions/negatives, at the end: 'Have you finished yet?' / 'Not yet.'

Talking about experience: 'Have you ever flown?' / 'I have never flown.'

'I saw her yesterday.' — a stated, finished time needs the past simple.

'… for three years.' — a duration takes 'for', not 'since'.

'Have you ever been to Italy?' — auxiliary + subject + participle.