Present Simple: Affirmative and the Third-Person -s
The present simple is English's workhorse tense for habits, routines, and facts. The verb keeps its base form for I, you, we, and they, but adds -s (or -es) in the third person singular for he, she, and it: "I work in a hospital" becomes "She works in a hospital." Watch the contrast: "They speak French" takes no -s, because "they" is plural. Forgetting this single -s ("He live here") is the most common mistake English learners make, so the golden rule is simple: he, she, it gets the -s, and nothing else does.
Examples
- I work in a hospital. the speaker's job is at a hospital
- She works in a hospital. her job is at a hospital
- They speak French. those people speak French
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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There's one tiny letter that trips up almost every English learner. Miss it, and a perfect sentence suddenly sounds wrong.
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We're talking about the present simple — the tense you use for habits, routines, and facts. It's the workhorse of everyday English, and it's almost effortless. Almost.
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Here's the whole rule. The verb keeps its base form for I, you, we, and they. But for he, she, and it, you add an -s. That single -s is the main thing to remember.
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So the people split into two groups. On one side, I, you, we, and they all use the plain base verb. On the other side, he, she, and it — and only those three — take the -s.
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Look at the verb work across all six persons. Only the he, she, it row changes — everything else is identical.
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Let's hear it. With I, the verb stays plain. I work in a hospital.
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Now switch to she. Same sentence, but the verb picks up its -s. She works in a hospital.
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And with they, we're back to the base form — no -s, because they isn't he, she, or it. They speak French.
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Most verbs just take -s, but a few need -es. When a verb ends in -o, -ch, -sh, -s, or -x, add -es so it's still easy to say.
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So go becomes goes, and watch becomes watches. He goes to work. She watches TV.
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One more spelling tweak. If a verb ends in a consonant plus -y, change the y to i and add -es. Study becomes studies. She studies medicine.
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And watch the verb have — it doesn't just add -s, it changes to has. He has a car.
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Here's the trap, and it's the single most common English mistake. People forget the -s and say He live here. The fix is tiny but essential: He lives here.
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And don't overdo it the other way. I works is wrong — the -s belongs only to he, she, and it.
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So remember: base form for everyone, plus an -s for he, she, and it.