Lindsay Clandfield in one sit e defined t hat ” ... memorizing t he list act ually w orks. I have lost count of t he numberof st udent s I have met
w ho can recall past t ense verbs by saying t hem along wit h t heir infinit ive forms. Nevert heless, I also know st udent s w ho could recit e t he
list of all t he past t ense irregular verbs off by heart and yet have great difficult y put t ing t oget her in a sent ence, at least verbally.
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Because irregular verbs more difficult t han regular verbs, t hat is w ay t here are many st udent s w ho st ill get difficult y in dist inguishing simple
past and past part iciple in learning passive voice.
D. Simple Present
a. The Understanding of Simple Present Tense
In general, relat ed t o Bet t y Azar simple present is t he event s or sit uat ions t hat exist alw ays, usually, habit ually: t hey exist now , have exist ed in t he past
and probably exist in t he fut ure.
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The present t ense show s clearly t hat in English; t ense is not t he same t ime. The present t ense is not usually used t o describe present t ime. Inst ead, it
describes act ivit ies and st at es w hich are generally and universally t rue. The present t ense is t he t ense for descript ion, definit ion, and st at ement of general
t rut h.
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From t he definit ion above it can be concluded t hat simple present t ense is present verb form used t o describe an act ivit y t hey exist now , habit ual act ion
and for general st at ement of fact .
b. Form of the simple present:
Subject + VI Subject : I, you, w e, and t hey Subject + VI + S ES Subject : She, he and it
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http:www.onestopenglish.comsection.asp?decid=146360.
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Betty Azar, op., Cit, P.2
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Patricia Wilcox Peterson, Changing Times Changing Tenses. United States Information agency, Washington, D.C. 1985 P.10
Example:
She st udies English everyday She doesn’t st udy English every day.
Does she st udy English every day?
They play foot ball every w eek They don’t play foot ball every w eek
Do t hey play foot ball every w eek
c. Use of Simple present
1. Repeat ed act ion Use t he simple present t o express t he idea t hat an act ion is repeat ed or usual.
The act ion can be a habit , a hobby, a daily event , a schedule event or somet hing t hat of t en happens.
Example: I play foot ball
The t rains leave every morning at 7 AM 2.
Fact s or Generalizat ion The simple present can also indicat e t he speaker believes t hat a fact
w as t rue before, is t rue now , and w ill be t rue in t he fut ure. It is not import ant if t he speaker is correct about t he fact . It is also used t o make
generalizat ion about people or t hings. Example:
Cat s like milk
California is in Am erica 3.
Schedule Event s in t he Near Fut ure Speakers occasionally use simple present t o t alk about scheduled
event s in t he near fut ure. This is most commonly done w hen t alking about public t ransport at ion, but it can be used w it h ot her scheduled event s as
w ell. Examples:
The t rain leaves t onight at 6 PM The part y st art s at 8 o’clock
4. Now Non-Cont inuous verb
Speakers somet imes use t he simple present t o express t he idea t hat an act ion is happening or is not happening now . This can only be done w it h
Non-Cont inuous Verbs and cert ain M ixed Verbs. Examples:
I am here now She is not here now .
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d. The Passive Voice of simple Present tense
To form t he passive voice of t he simple present t ense use, am, is and are + Past part iciple. The passive voice subject det ermines, w het her t he
verb be is singular and plural.
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George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks; Let’s write English American Book Company, P.193-194
Simple Active
Passive
Present I make a composit ion
A composit ion is made by me Tense
We kill t he snakes The snake are killed by us
Here t here will be a classificat ion of sent ence as an example acording t o it s w ord composit ion
The Sent ence : I make a composit ion
Subject Verb Object Analysis : The sent ence has subject I, verb make and object a
composit ion it may become passive and is is show n as follow : The Sent ence : A Composit ion is made by me
Subject To be+V3 byobject
Analysis : Subject in passive sent ence a composit ion is
derived from object of act ive sent ence as show n above, and object in passive is t aken from subject of act ive sent ence. Object may be involved or
not . It is based on t he purpose w het her t he original doer is import ant or not t o be know n.Furt hermore as it has been demonst rat ed, t he t ransformat ion
of verb based on t o passive simple present t ense, it is recognized t hat t he formula is subject + t o be am,is, are+Past part iciple+by agent . To be is
decided by subject w het her it is singular first person I, plural first personw e, singilar second person you, singular t hird person she.he,it ,
or plural second person t hey, Subject a composit ion is singular first person, t herefore it applies t o be illust rat ed below :
Singular first person I am
Plural first person w e are
Singular second person you are
Singular t hird person she,he,It is Plural t hird person t hey
are Therefore, subjebt a composit ion uses t o be “ is” .
In t erms of t he purposes, sent ence can be divided int o four t ypes; declarat ive, imperat ive, int errogat ive, and exclamat ory sent ence. In t his
occasion t here w ill be only explaind declarat ive, cont aining affirmat ive, negat ive sent ence, and int errogat ive sent ence.
A. Affirmative Sentence
