Simple Present

Be : am, is and are (Nominal Sentences)

Use:

• am with the personal pronoun I
  
• is with the personal pronouns he, she or it (or with the singular form of nouns)
  
• are with the personal pronouns we, you or they (or with the plural form of nouns)
  

Example: I am hungry.

	Affirmative	negative	question
I	I am.	I am not.	Am I?
he/she/it	He is.	He is not.	Is he?
you/we/they	You are.	You are not.	Are you?

Have

Use:

• have with the personal pronouns I, you, we und they (or with the plural form of nouns)
  

• has with the personal pronouns he, she, it (or with the singular form of nouns)
  

Example: I have a dog. / I have got a dog.

'have got' is mainly used in British English. You can also use 'have' on its own (especially in American English). In this case, however, you must form negative sentences and questions with the auxiliary verb 'do' (see 'All other verbs').

	positive	negative	question
I/you/we/they		I have got. / I have.		I have not got. / I do not have.	Have I got? / Do I have?
he/she/it		He has got. / He has.		He has not got. / He does not have.	Has he got? / Does he have?

All other verbs

Use:

• the infinite verb (play) with the personal pronouns I, you, we and they (or with the plural form of nouns)
  
• the verb + s (plays) with the personal pronouns he, she, it (or with the singular form of nouns)
  

  	affirmative	negative	question
  I/you/we/they	I play.	I do not play.	Do I play?
  he/she/it	He plays.	He does not play.	Does he play?

  Tips on how to form negative sentences and questions
  

Negative sentences and questions are formed with the auxiliary verb 'do'.

The 3rd person singular of 'do' is 'does'. This means that in negative sentences and questions the 's' of the main verb is placed behind 'do'.

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