| Present Simple (Do you work? / I work / I don’t work) | Present Continuous (Are you working? / I’m working / I’m not working) |
| Past Simple (Did you work? / I worked / I didn’t work) | Past Continuous (Were you working? / I was working / I wasn’t working) |
| Future Simple (Will you work? / I will work / I won’t work) | Future Continuous (Will you be working? / I will be working. / I won’t be working.) |
Present Simple – Frageform / Bejahte Form / Verneinung
Das „Present Simple“ wird verwendet, um Folgendes zu beschreiben:
Fakten / Routinen / Dauerhafte Dinge / Dinge, die regelmäßig passieren / Reden im Allgemeinen
Die folgenden Signalwörter werden mit dieser Zeitform verbunden:
always (immer) / usually (gewöhnlich) / sometimes (manchmal) / often (oft) / never (nie) / every (jedes)…/ once a week (einmal pro Woche)/ twice a month (zweimal pro Monat)
| Do I work every weekend? | I work every weekend? | I don’t work every Wednesday. |
| Do you work every weekend? | You work every weekend? | You don’t work every Wednesday. |
| Does he work every weekend? | He works every weekend? | He doesn’t work every Wednesday. |
| Does she work every weekend? | She works every weekend? | She doesn’t work every Wednesday. |
| Does it work every weekend? | It works every weekend? | It doesn’t work every Wednesday. |
| Do we work every weekend? | We work every weekend? | We don’t work every Wednesday. |
| Do they work every weekend? | They work every weekend? | They don’t work every Wednesday. |
Achtung: Für das Verb „be“ (sein) gelten diese Regeln nicht. Es funktioniert mit Deutsch ähnlichem Satzbau
| Am I from Hamburg? | I am from Hamburg. | I am not / I’m not from Hamburg. |
| Are you from Hamburg? | You are from Hamburg. | You are not / You aren’t from Hamburg. |
| Is he from Hamburg? | He is from Hamburg. | He is not / He isn’t from Hamburg. |
| Is she from Hamburg? | She is from Hamburg. | She is not / She isn’t from Hamburg. |
| Is it from Hamburg? | It is from Hamburg. | It is not / It isn’t from Hamburg. |
| Are we from Hamburg? | We are from Hamburg. | We are not / We aren’t from Hamburg. |
| Are you from Hamburg? | They are from Hamburg. | They are not / They aren’t from Hamburg. |
Achtung: Die Modalverben folgen nicht den Regeln des Present Simple. Sie funktionieren auch ähnlich wie die deutschen Modalverben.
| I can ice skate. Ich kann Schlittschuhlaufen | Can you skate? Kannst du Schlittschuh laufen? | I cannot / can’t skate. Ich kann nicht Schlittschuh laufen. |
| You could help him. Du könntest ihm helfen. | Could you help him? Kannst du ihm helfen? | You could not / couldn’t help him. Du konntest ihm nicht helfen. |
| He should go. Er sollte gehen. | Should he go? Sollte er gehen? | He should not / shouldn’t go. Er sollte nicht gehen. |
| She may attend. Sie darf teilnehmen. | May she attend? Darf sie teilnehmen? | She may not attend. Sie darf nicht teilnehmen. |
| It might work. Vielleicht funktioniert es. | Might it work? Könnte es funktionieren? | It might not / mightn’t work. Vielleicht funktioniert es nicht. |
| We must wait. Wir müssen warten. | Must we wait? Müssen wir warten? | We must not / mustn’t wait. Wir müssen nicht warten. |
Achtung: Für diese Modalverben gibt es keine Markierung in der dritten Person Singular (er/sie/es), d. h. die Verb-Endung ist bei allen Personen gleich. Dies gilt für den bejahenden, fragenden und verneinenden Fall.
Die Ausnahme ist „have to“ (müssen):
| Do I have to attend the meeting? | You have to attend. | You do not / don’t have to attend. |
| Does he have to attend? | He has to attend. | He does not / doesn’t have to attend. |
| Does she have to attend? | She has to attend. | She does not / doesn’t have to attend. |
| Does it have to be this week? | It has to be this week. | It does not / doesn’t have to be. |
| Do we have to attend? | We have to attend. | We don’t have to attend. |
| Do they have to attend? | They have to attend. | They don’t have to attend. |