Today we continue to discover Present Simple tense; we will learn some more rules that can be called “exceptions.”

Though it is Indefinite, Present is Simple, but there are some naughty exceptions.

• So, we have few more endings to pay attention to: «sh» and «ch»:

I, You, We, They watch TV and wash the dog
She, He watches their child and washes the dishes

As I explain to my students the reason to add “e” letter before “s” is to simplify the pronunciation.

• One more case when we need to consult the English grammar rules is when we have –y ending of the verb.

I, You, We, They play
She, He plays

Or

I, You, We, They study
She, He studies

Let’s gather:

1. When we have a verb with “y” ending and a vowel precedes the “y” we add “s” in the third person singular.
2. When we have a verb with “y” ending and a consonant precedes the “y”, we add “ies” in the third person singular.

For example,

• “George pays for his dinner.” But “I pay for my dress.”
• “Linda studies new grammar.” But “We study hard to enter Cambridge University.”
• “You play the guitar in a beautiful way. Where do you study?” But “He almost flies when he plays without music. We think that nobody teaches him.”

If you don’t mind, one more time we will revise questions and negatives. We still use the verb to do with the new kind of verbs that we have learned.

• “Do you play the guitar every day?” or “Does he study the theory?”, “Do you teach the music or the language?” or “Does he watch TV every Saturday evening?”.

As you can see, in questions we change the verb to do, but the main verb remains unchanged.

The same thing happens when we use negatives.

• “No, I do not play the guitar every day.” or “No, he doesn’t study the theory at all!”, “We do not teach music, but we teach language.” or “No, he does not watch TV on Saturday, he watches it on Monday.”

Find out homework for this lesson here.