Present simple tense

We use the present simple form for:

* facts or laws of nature:
The sun rises in the east.

* permanent states:
They live in London.

* daily routines, habits or repeated actions:
I get up at 7 o'clock.
He goes to work by bus.

* timetables:
The train for Vienna leaves at 10.30.

As you can see, only the verbs in the 3rd person singular (with he, she, it) have an ending -s (sings, plays) or -es (passes, washes, watches, does, fixes, tries).

The ending can be pronounced in three different ways: /s/ (voiceless sounds: walks), /z/ (voiced sounds: buys) and /iz/ (others: brushes).

To make questions or negatives, in most cases we need an auxiliary verb DO / DOES (3rd person singular).