Present Indefinite/Simple Tense in English – Structure, Rules & Examples

Back to: Tenses in English Grammar with Examples

We discussed Tenses and their types. In this unit, we will discuss the Present Indefinite Tense in detail. As told earlier, the Present Indefinite Tense describes some action that takes place in the present (now) but has no end time mentioned.

In simple words, it tells about something which happens regularly e.g. Sun rises in the East. We all know that the sun rises every day and will keep rising forever. How would you recognize if a sentence is in the present tense or not?

In Hindi and Urdu, the sentences which end in “taa hai, tey hein, tii hai, taa hu” are all present indefinite tense. e.g. vo school jata hai, vo khana khati hai, mein cycle chlata hu etc. Got it?

Let us try understanding how to make a sentence that describes an action in present indefinite tense. We hope that you have memorized all the verbs, their forms and meanings in unit 1. If not please memorize them before learning about the tenses.

Rule 1

In the Present Indefinite Tense, we use the 1st form of verb + s/es with He, She, It and Name. e.g.

These examples will help you understand this.

  1. He watches videos on Youtube. (mein Youtube par videos dekhta hu)
  2. She uploads selfies on Instagram. (Vo Instagram par selfies daalti hai)
  3. It rains every day. (Har roz barish hoti hai.)
  4. Athar plays PUBG in the night. (Athar raat mein PUBG khelta hai)
  5. Zoha asks boring questions every day. (Zoha boring sawaal puchti hai)
  6. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sings Qawalis. (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan qawaaliyaan gaate hein)
  7. Rahil sits near the TV. (Rahil TV k paas bethta hai)
  8. She makes a tasty tea. (Vo mazey ki chae banati hai)
  9. He gets a good amount of salary. (Usko achi tankhwa milti hai)
  10. She writes in beautiful handwriting. (Vo bhut pyara likhti hai)

Rule 2

We use 1st forms of Verb with I, We, You and They. e/es is not used with verbs.

These examples will help you understand this.

  1. I watch movies on Netflix. (Mein Netflix par movies dekhta hu)
  2. They listen to music on Amazon Prime. (Vo Amazon Prime par gaane sunte hein)
  3. We sleep in the day. (Hum din ko sote hein)
  4. You fail in exams. (Ap exams mein fail hote ho)
  5. I earn money from my website. (Mein apni website se pese kamata hu)
  6. We hate them very much. (Hum un se bhut nafrat karte hein)
  7. They talk to each other in the class. (Vo class mein apas mein baatein krte hein)
  8. You do your work very well. (Ap apna kaam bhut ache se krte ho)
  9. I fight with my sister. (Mein apni behen se ladta hu)
  10. We run very fast. (Hum bhut tez bhagte hein)

Rule 3

Now that we have understood the basics, let us learn how to make questions of a sentence which is in Present Indefinite Tense.

We use Does with He, She, It and Name and remove e/es from the verb. e.g.

  1. Does he watch videos on Youtube?
  2. Does she upload selfies on Instagram?
  3. Does it rain every day?
  4. Does Athar play PUBG at night?
  5. Does Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sing Qawallis?

Rule 4

We use Do with I, We, You and They. e.g.

  1. Do I watch movies on Netflix?
  2. Do we sleep in the day?
  3. Do you fail in the exams?
  4. Do we hate them very much?
  5. Do they talk to each other in the class?

Play Quiz

Play Quiz on Present Indefinite Tense