The Simple Present

(o presente simples)

Formação

O Simple Present é formado pelo infinitivo do verbo, sem a partícula to. Apenas a terceira pessoa do singular (he,she, it) recebe s:

to see - I see

O ‘s’ da terceira pessoa do singular muda para es, se o

verbo terminar por:

a) SS, CH, SH, ZZ, X e O:

to pass - he passes

to catch - he catches

to wash - he washes

to buzz - It buzzes

to fix - she fixes

to go - she goes

b) Y precedido de consoante; o y transforma-se em i, antes

de acrescentarmos es:

As formas negativa e interrogativa do Simp/e Present

são obtidas através do auxiliar do (does para a terceira pes-

soa do singular):

I do not like wine.

They don't speak Russian.

She does not intend to go to London today.

Do you like Chinese food?

Does Tom work for you?

Don't we play well?

Doesn't she look like her mother?

Obseve que:

a) do not contrai-se para don't, e does not, para doesn't;

b) nas formas negativa e interrogativa, na terceira pessoa do

singular, o verbo volta para a forma de infinitivo.

E os verbos auxiliares?

To be é assim conjugado no Simple Present:

I am We are

You are You are

He, she, it is They are

To have varia apenas na terceira pessoa do singular:

I, you, we, they have

Os verbos modais (can, may, must etc.) têm todas as pes-

soas iguais, sem qualquer variação, mesmo na terceira pes-

soa do singular:

I can play the violin.

She must come here today.

Já as formas negativa, interrogativa e negativa e inter-

rogativa dos verbos auxiliares são conseguidas pelo acrésci-

mo de not, inversão verbo/sujeito e inversão verbo

negativo/sujeito, respectivamente:

He is not English.

They cannot swim.

Are you a secretary?

May I come in?

Isn't Betty pretty?

Can't you see well?

O verbo to have, no sentido de possuir, em inglês britâ-

nico, freqüentemente é seguido de got:

I have (got) a caro

She has (got) a date with Paul tonight.

As formas negativa e interrogativa, em inglês britânico,

são feitas segundo as regras que vimos acima. Já o inglês ame-

ricano prefere o emprego de do e does. Assim:

I haven't (got) a car. (I. B.)

I don't have a car. (I. A.)

Emprego

Você vai usar o Simple Present para expressar:

I always get up at 6 o'clock.

Most English people have tea in the morning.

b) ações ou estados permanentes:

People speak German in Austria.

It rains a lot in the south of England.

It's always cold in Siberia.

c) verdades imutáveis:

Water boils at 100°C.

The Nile flows to the Mediterranean.

d) ações num futuro planejado:

You leave Paris on Monday and arrive in Tokyo on Thursday.

Next Sunday? Well, I play tennis in the morning and calI on you

in the afternoon.

Vamos à prática

A. Para começar, vamos passar as orações que se seguem

para a terceira pessoa do singular. Use he ou she:

1. I always try to come to school early.

2. They study English and French.

3. We wash our clothes in the morning.

4. I work in Bristol; I sell and buy cars.

5. We go to the dentist's twice a year.

6. They pass the church on their way to school.

7. I watch TV every evening.

8. They dress very well.

B. Quando o Simple Present expressa ações habituais,

muitas vezes o empregamos com advérbios de freqüência (01-

ten, seldom, usually etc.). Dê respostas com o advérbio.

proposto. Observe que esse advérbio de freqüência deve ser

colocado entre o sujeito e o verbo. Siga o exemplo:

Does she attend church on Sundays? (usually)

She usually attends church on Sundays.

I. Do you come to school by bus? (often)

2. Does he ever have lunch with you? (seldom)

3. Does Janet ever write to you? (frequently)

4. Do you walk to work? (never)

5. Does your mother speak to you in Spanish? (sometimes)

6. Do the students prepare their homework? (occasionally)

7. Do you ever swim in the morning? (usually)

8. Do you come back home Iate? (always)

C. Dê respostas como no exemplo:

Does she play the piano badly?

Yes, she does. She plays the piano badly.

1. Does he want another piece of cake?

2. Do you always speak that loud?

3. Does Jim catch cold so easily?

4. Do they live in a cottage?

5. Does your brother work for a Japanese company?

6. Do you smoke a lot?

7. Does Peter always behave like that?

8. Do the kids enjoy coming to the park?

D. Siga o exemplo:

John/speak/French/ltalian

John speaks French. He doesn't speak Italian.

1. Patrick/play/the cello/the oboe

2. the boy/study/Maths/Physics

3. my mother/cook/lunch/dinner

4. her parents/know/India/China

5. those girls/intend to be/nurses/teachers

6. Peggy/teach/Literature/Linguistics

7. Roy and Jill/travel/by train/by plane

8. his father/repair/bikes/cars

E. Siga o exemplo:

That's Paul. (work in Chelsea)

Doesn't he work in Chelsea?

1. This is Mary. (sing at the Opera House)

2. That's Michel. (play soccer)

3. These are the Duncans. (live next door)

4. That's my brother. (swim for our team)

5. Those are the scientists. (research on heart diseases)

6. These are bees. (make honey)

7. That's Mr Brown. (write novels)

8. This is my sister. (look like you)

F. Siga o exemplo:

you/leave/in the morning/in the afternoon

Don't you leave in the morning?

No, I don't. I leave in the afternoon.

1. Nicholas/work/in Manchester /in Brighton

2. they/look after/old people/children

3. Elisa/grow/vegetables/fruit

4. you/like/strawberries/plums

5. people in this country/speak/Spanish/Portuguese

6. this radio/broadcast/for Central America/for South

America

7. they/spend/their holidays/in Scotland/in Wales

8. her aunt/live/in a village in the north/in a large town

in the south

M

G. Responda, usando as informações entre parênteses:

Where does he work? (in the city centre)

He works in the city centre.

1. How do they always traveI? (by plane)

2. How many foreign languages can he speak? (five)

3. What time does the concert start? (at nine)

4. How often does that girl come here? (frequently)

5. Where do the kids change their clothes? (in this

room)

6. How long does the match last? (90 minutes)

7. What platform does the train leave from? (six)

8. What time must he be here? (before noon)

H. Agora, faça perguntas usando o interrogativo apre-

sentado entre parênteses:

Tom lives in Bibury. (Where)

Where does Tom live?

1. Beth seldom pays a visit to her family. (How often)

2. Mother keeps alI the food in the pantry. (Where)

3. He always speaks to us in French. (In what language)

4. It takes them about half an hour to come here. (How

long)

5. Jim has got five houses in this town. (How many)

6. Jim intends to buy the red car. (Which)

7. My sister knocks off at six. (What time)

8. They often come to school by taxi. (How)

9. She spends about ten pounds every day. (How much)

10. He can play several instruments. (How many)

XXX

Answer key – Respostas dos exercícios

Vamos à prática

A. Para começar, vamos passar as orações que se seguem

para a terceira pessoa do singular. Use he ou she:

He watches TV every evening.

8. They dress very well.

She dresses very well.

B. Quando o Simple Present expressa ações habituais,

muitas vezes o empregamos com advérbios de freqüência (01-

ten, seldom, usually etc.). Dê respostas com o advérbio.

proposto. Observe que esse advérbio de freqüência deve ser

colocado entre o sujeito e o verbo. Siga o exemplo:

Does she attend church on Sundays? (usually)

She usually attends church on Sundays.

I. Do you come to school by bus? (often)

I often come to school by bus.

2. Does he ever have lunch with you? (seldom)

He seldom has lunch with me.

3. Does Janet ever write to you? (frequently)

Janet frequently writes to me.

4. Do you walk to work? (never)

I never walk to work.

5. Does your mother speak to you in Spanish? (sometimes)

My mother sometimes speaks Spanish.

6. Do the students prepare their homework? (occasionally)

They occasionally prepare their homework.

7. Do you ever swim in the morning? (usually)

I usually swim in the morning.

8. Do you come back home Iate? (always)

I always come back home late.

C. Dê respostas como no exemplo:

Does she play the piano badly?

Yes, she does. She plays the piano badly.

Yes, he does. He always behaves like that.

8. Do the kids enjoy coming to the park?

Yes, they do. They enjoy coming to the park.

D. Siga o exemplo:

John/speak/French/ltalian

John speaks French. He doesn't speak Italian.

His father repairs bikes. He doesn’t repair cars.

E. Siga o exemplo:

That's Paul. (work in Chelsea)

Doesn't he work in Chelsea?

Doesn’t he write novels?

8. This is my sister. (look like you)

Doesn’t she look like you?

F. Siga o exemplo:

you/leave/in the morning/in the afternoon

Don't you leave in the morning?

No, I don't. I leave in the afternoon.

1. Nicholas/work/in Manchester /in Brighton

No, he doesn’t. He works in Brighton.

2. they/look after/old people/children

Don’t they look after old people?

No, they don’t. They look after children.

3. Elisa/grow/vegetables/fruit

Doesn’t Elisa grow vegetables?

No, she doesn’t. She grows fruit.

4. you/like/strawberries/plums

Don’t you like strawberries?

No, I don’t . I like plums.

5. people in this country/speak/Spanish/Portuguese

Don’t people in this country speak Spanish?

No, they don’t. They speak Portuguese.

6. this radio/broadcast/for Central America/for South

America

Doesn’t this radio broadcast for Central America?

No, it doesn’t. It broadcasts for South America.

7. they/spend/their holidays/in Scotland/in Wales

Don’t they spend their holidays in Scotland?

No, they don’t. They spend their holidays in Wales.

8. her aunt/live/in a village in the north/in a large town

in the south

Doesn’t her aunt live in a village in the north?

No, she doesn’t. She lives in a large town in the south.

G. Responda, usando as informações entre parênteses:

Where does he work? (in the city centre)

He works in the city centre.

1. How do they always traveI? (by plane)

They always travel by plane.

2. How many foreign languages can he speak? (five)

He can speak five foreign languages.

3. What time does the concert start? (at nine)

The concert starts at nine.

4. How often does that girl come here? (frequently)

She frequently comes here.

5. Where do the kids change their clothes? (in this

room)

They change their clothes in this room.

6. How long does the match last? (90 minutes)

The match lasts 90 minutes.

7. What platform does the train leave from? (six)

The train leaves from platform six.

8. What time must he be here? (before noon)

He must be here before noon.

H. Agora, faça perguntas usando o interrogativo apre-

sentado entre parênteses:

Tom lives in Bibury. (Where)

Where does Tom live?

1. Beth seldom pays a visit to her family. (How often)

How often does Beth pay a visit to her family?

2. Mother keeps alI the food in the pantry. (Where)

Where does mother keep all the food?

3. He always speaks to us in French. (In what language)

In what language does he always speak to us?

4. It takes them about half an hour to come here. (How

long)

How long does it take them to come here?

5. Jim has got five houses in this town. (How many)

How many houses does Jim have got in this town?

6. Jim intends to buy the red car. (Which)

Which car does Jim intend to buy?

7. My sister knocks off at six. (What time)

What time does your sister knock off?

8. They often come to school by taxi. (How)

How do they often come to school?

9. She spends about ten pounds every day. (How much)

How much does she spend every day?

10. He can play several instruments. (How many)

How many instruments can he play?

XXX