Skip to main content

Simple Present Tense


USAGE: We use the simple present tense when we would like to express;
a.       Daily Activities,
b.      Habitual Action or Events,
c.       General Truth

NOMINAL SENTENCE

KEY: Use Be-Present (Is, Am, Are) behind the Subjects!, like;

SUBJECT
BE-PRESENT
I

Saya

Am
You
Kamu/kalian
Are
We
Kami/kita
Are
They
Mereka
Are
He
Dia (LK)
Is
She
Dia (PR)
Is
It
Dia (Selain Orang)
Is

For Examples:

            I am happy. ( Saya senang )
            You are sleepy. ( Kamu mengantuk )
            We are hungry. ( Kami lapar )
They are students. ( Mereka pelajar )
She is in the hospital. ( Dia di rumah sakit )
He is an English teacher. ( Dia seorang guru bahasa Inggris )
It is a picture. (Ini/Itu sebuah gambar ).

Take notice that we do not use Verb as the Predicate but, Adjectives (Kata Sifat), Noun (Kata Benda), Adverb (Kata Keterangan), Noun Phrase (Prase Kata Benda) and Pronoun (Kata Ganti). Therefore we can conclude the formation, as;

SUBJECT
BE-PRESENT
NOUN
NOUN PHRASE
ADJECTIVE
ADVERB
PRONOUN
We also can put adverb (quality) before Noun, Noun Phrase, Adjective, adverb, or Pronoun, like ; very (sangat), so (begitu/sangat), too (terlalu/terlampau), etc.

For Examples;

            I am so sorry. ( Saya begitu menyesal........... saya mohon maaf)
            She is very angry at me. ( dia sangat marah padaku)
They are too ugly to be a cover boy. (mereka terlalu jelek (muka) untuk
menjadi seorang Cover Boy)


When we would like to make a Negative Sentence, put “NOT” behind the “BE-Present”!, like;

Be + Not
Abbreviated
Meaning
Am not
-
Bukan/tidak
Are not
Aren’t
Bukan/tidak
Is not
Isn’t
Bukan/tidak

For Examples;

He
Is not

He
Isn’t
My uncle, Tom.
He’s
not


I
Am not



Sleepy.
I’m
not


They
Are not

They
Aren’t
In hospital.
They’re
Not


To make an interrogative sentence, put the Be-present at the beginning of the sentence, like;

            Am I confused ? of course not ! ( Apakah saya bingung? Tentu saja tidak! )
            Is she bored of my speaking? ( Apakah dia bosan dengan bicaraku? )
            Are they afraid of dog? ( Apakah mereka takut dengan anjing? )
            Is it good to eat? ( Apakah ini/itu baik dimakan? )
            Is it difficult to do? ( Apakah ini/itu sulit dilakukan? )

Negative-Interrogative Sentence

KEY: Put /aren’t/, /isn’t/, or /am I not/ at the beginning of the sentence!

For Examples;
           
            Aren’t you a soldier?
            ( Bukankah kamu seorang prajurit? )

            Isn’t he interested to live in the city?
            (Bukankah dia tertarik menetap di kota? )

            Am I not responsible for this club?
            ( Bukankah saya bertanggung jawab dengan Klub ini? )
or,
            Are you not a soldier?
            Is he not interested to live in the city?
            Am I not responsible for this club?

Note:  If you answer “Yes”, It means that you are not a soldier; he is not interested to live in the city; you are not resposible for that club.

 

VERBAL SENTENCE

KEY: Only use Bare-Infinitive! So, do not use be-present in it!

SUBJECT
BARE-INFINITIVE

For Examples;

SUBJECT
BARE-INFINITIVE
OBJECT/ADVERB/
COMPLEMENT
I
go
to Magelang by bike.
She
learns
English every night.
He
works
for Delt@ Computer.
They
blame
me.
We
get
tired of the job.
It
flies
without wings.
His mother
goes
shopping every monday.
The student
comes
to my party on time.

            Take notice that the bare-infinitive adds the suffix ‘/-s/ or /-es/’ when the subject  /she/, /he/, or /it/ is used. Meanwhile, there is No suffixes used when the subject is /I/, /you/, /we/, or /they/.

Look at this following changes!

            Learn    è         Learns
            Work    è         Works
            Fly        è         Flies
            Go        è         Goes
            Come   è         Comes

Remember that the changes above does not change the meaning.
However, the suffixes will be omitted when the sentence is changed into Negative or Interrogative. (look at the Negative and Interrogative section!)

Suffix /-es/

Add the suffix /-es/ when the bare infinitive has this following formation of letter in the end, they are;

            /-ch/, /-sh/, /-o/, /-x/, /-s/, or /-ss/ and few of /-y/.

            Examples; watch, wash, fix, kiss, miss, go, do, teach, fetch, push, etc.

Not all the bare infinitives which belongs /-y/ can be added by the suffix /-es/. It depends on this formation;

Consonant

Y


            Examples;
           
            Cry       ------------------      consonant /-r-/ + /-y/
            Fry       ------------------      consonant /-r-/ + /-y/
            Try       ------------------      consonant /-r-/ + /-y/
            Study   ------------------      consonant /-d-/ + /-y/
                                                                        Note: /-r-/ or /-d-/ is a Consonant.
But, when the formation is “ Vowel + /-y/ “, just put the suffix /-s/ at it, like; Pay, Stay,
Play, say, etc. Warning ! This rule only happens in the Verbal Sentence......

Suffix /-s/

Only add the suffix /-s/ when the bare infinitive does not have the rule like above.

Negative Sentence

KEY-1:  Use the auxilliary Do + not ( or, Don’t ) when the subject is /I/, /You/, /We/, or /They/!
                       
For Examples;

            (+)        Solihin and I need to attend the meeting.                                   
            (--)        Solihin and I do not need to attend the meeting.

            (+)        They have the CD player.
            (--)        They don’t have the CD player.

            (+)        I like staying at home.
            (--)        I do not like staying at home.


KEY-1:  Use the auxilliary Does + not ( or, Doesn’t )when the subject is /I/, /You/, /We/, or /They/!

For Examples;

            (+)        She sleeps soundly every night.
            (--)        She doesn’t sleep soundly every night.


            (+)        Miss Eva passes the exam.
            (--)        Miss Eva does not pass the exam.

            (+)        It jumps over the stream.
            (--)        It doesn’t jump over the stream.

Interrogative Sentence ( Yes/No Question )

KEY: Put the auxilliary Do or Does at the beginning of the sentence!


For Examples;

            X:         Does she remember me ?
            ( Apakah dia ingat padaku? )
Y:         Yes!
Or,        Yes, She does.
                        No, she doesn’t.
                        She doesn’t.
                       
            X:         Do you need something to drink?
                        ( Apakah kamu perlu sesuatu untuk diminum? )
                                                ---------or, ( Apakah kamu mau minum? )
            Y:         Yes!
            Or,        Yes, I do.
                                    No, I don’t.       
                                    I don’t.

            X:         Do you have some money?
                        ( Apakah kau punya uang? )
            Y:         Yes!
                        Or,        Yes, I do.
                                    No, I don’t..
                                    I don’t.

            X:         Do your sisters do the assignments?
                        ( Apakah saudara2 perempuanmu mengerjakan tugas-tugas
 itu? )
            Y:         Yes!
                        Or,        Yes, they do.
                                    No, they don’t..
                                    They don’t.

            X:         Does it work well?
                        ( Apakah ia bekerja dengan baik? )
            Y:         Yes!
                        Or,        Yes, It does.
                                    No, It doesn’t.
                                    It doesn’t.

Negative-Interrogative Sentence

KEY: Put the auxilliary Don’t or Doesn’t at the beginning of the sentence!


For Examples;

            Don’t you pick him up?
            ( Tidakkah kau menjemputnya? )

            or,  you can say:

            Do you not pick him up?
            ( Apakah kau tidak menjemputnya? )