Unit 4 - Present Simple: Negatives and Questions

Grammar

1. Simple Present Negatives

Simple Present negatives and questions are used in the same situations as Simple Present statements: for permanent facts, present fact, and habitual actions.

- Permanent facts: I do not speak Japanese. - Fish do not live in water.

- Present facts: I do not work at home. - She does not play the piano.

- Habitual actions: I do not get up at 8.00. - They do not come here every day. 

To make a negative sentence we put do or does after the subject. Because of this, the verb that follows do/does + not is always in the bare infinitive form. 
For example: 
"I do not like pizza." is correct, but
"I do not likes pizza is incorrect" - you don't need to add an "s" to the verb "like".
Do and does come from the verb "to do", which is often used as an auxiliary verb in English.

Here is the negative form of the verb "to give" in the Simple Present:

Singular I do not give You do not give He does not give She does not give It does not give

Plural We do not give You do not give They do not give

2. Simple Present Questions

To make a Simple Present Questions you put do or does before the subject. For example: - Statement: I speak Japanese. 
- Questions: Do I speak Japanese?
- Statement: She likes pizza. 
- Questions: Does she like pizza?
As with negatives, the verb after do or does (and the subject) is always in the bare infinitive form. It is the auxiliary verb "to do", do or does, which changes.

Simple Present Question verbs are as follows:

Singular Do I like (pizza) ? Do you like ...? Does he like ...? Does she like ...? Does it like ...?

Plural Do we like ...? Do you like ...? Do they like ...?

Negative questions are also possible but are used for several more advanced ways. We'll deal with them later!