Present Simple (am/is/are, Do/Does) – Grammar Exercises for A1

1 C

• Why it’s correct: The subject is “I”, so the “to be” verb is “am”.
• Analyzing distractors: A is for he/she/it. B is the unconjugated base form.

2 B

• Why it’s correct: “The city” is a singular subject (it), so we use “is”.
• Analyzing distractors: C is a common mistake if the learner associates “city” with many people and treats it as plural. A requires an action verb.

3 A

• Why it’s correct: The subject “I” takes the base form of the action verb “live”.
• Analyzing distractors: B adds “-s”, which is only for 3rd person singular. C is a structural error mixing “to be” with a base action verb.

4 B

• Why it’s correct: “It” requires the 3rd person singular form of “have”, which is “has”.
• Analyzing distractors: A is for I/you/we/they. C is grammatically incorrect (the word “haves” does not exist).

5 C

• Why it’s correct: “My new job” is a singular subject (it), so the action verb “start” needs an “-s” (starts).
• Analyzing distractors: A misses the “-s”. B incorrectly combines “is” with an action verb.

6 A

• Why it’s correct: To make a negative sentence with “I” and an action verb, we use “don’t”.
• Analyzing distractors: B is for he/she/it. C incorrectly uses the “to be” verb to negate an action.

7 B

• Why it’s correct: “Flatmates” is a plural subject (they), and “friendly” is an adjective. We use “are”.
• Analyzing distractors: A is a common mistake if the learner doesn’t notice the plural “s” on “flatmates”. C “do” cannot link to an adjective.

8 C

• Why it’s correct: “They” is a plural subject, so the action verb stays in its base form (“work”).
• Analyzing distractors: B incorrectly applies the 3rd person singular “-s”. A structurally mixes “are” with an action verb.

9 A

• Why it’s correct: The subject is “we”, so the verb “take” stays in its base form.
• Analyzing distractors: C incorrectly adds “-s”. B is the continuous form but lacks the “to be” verb.

10 C

• Why it’s correct: “The subway ticket” is singular (it). We use the negative auxiliary “doesn’t” before the action verb “cost”.
• Analyzing distractors: A is for plural subjects. B mixes “isn’t” with an action verb.

11 B

• Why it’s correct: To ask a question with “you” and the action verb “want”, we use the auxiliary “Do”.
• Analyzing distractors: A “Are” cannot be used with an action verb. C “Does” is for he/she/it.

12 A

• Why it’s correct: Adverbs of frequency (always) must be placed after the “to be” verb (am). So, “am always” is correct.
• Analyzing distractors: C has the wrong word order. B incorrectly uses “do” instead of the linking verb needed for the adjective “happy”.

13 C

• Why it’s correct: “My office” is a singular location (it). We use “is”.
• Analyzing distractors: A is for plural subjects. B “has” does not make sense when describing a location with a prepositional phrase (“in the center”).

14 B

• Why it’s correct: “It” is a singular subject. We add “-s” to the action verb: “takes”.
• Analyzing distractors: A misses the “-s”. C incorrectly mixes “is” with an action verb.

15 A

• Why it’s correct: The word “Everyone” is an indefinite pronoun, which is always grammatically singular. The verb needs an “-s” (seems).
• Analyzing distractors: B is a very common trap because “everyone” sounds plural in meaning. C mixes “are” with an action verb.

16 B

• Why it’s correct: Adverbs of frequency (usually) go before the main action verb. So, “usually wake up” is the correct order.
• Analyzing distractors: A places the adverb incorrectly at the end of the verb phrase. C mixes “am” with an action verb.

17 C

• Why it’s correct: “The local food” is an uncountable noun, so it acts as a singular subject (it). We add “-s” to the verb: “tastes”.
• Analyzing distractors: B is a mistake if the learner treats “food” as a plural concept. A mixes “is” with an action verb.

18 A

• Why it’s correct: “My new apartment” is singular (it). To ask a question with the action verb “look”, we use “Does”.
• Analyzing distractors: C is for plural subjects. B “Is” cannot be used to ask a question with an action verb like “look”.

19 C

• Why it’s correct: “My new company” is singular (it). We use “doesn’t” to negate the action. After “doesn’t”, the main verb MUST be in its base form (“have”).
• Analyzing distractors: B is a very common trap; learners often use “doesn’t” but forget to reset the main verb to its base form, leaving it as “has”. A is for plural subjects.

20 B

• Why it’s correct: When “who” is the subject of a question, we treat it as a 3rd person singular subject. Therefore, the verb needs an “-s” (wants).
• Analyzing distractors: A is a common mistake when learners assume “who” refers to multiple people. C is not natural for a subject question in the Present Simple.

• Establishing the “New Normal”: Use the Present Simple to describe your permanent situations, habits, and routines in your new life (I live here, I work there, I wake up early).
• Action vs. State: * If you describe how something looks, feels, or where it is, use am/is/are (The city is busy, I am happy).
• If you describe what you do, use normal action verbs and do/does/don’t/doesn’t (I don’t know many people, The subway doesn’t cost much).
• The “Doesn’t Reset” Rule: Once you use doesn’t, the verb that follows must be normal (base form). My company doesn’t have (NOT doesn’t has).
• Tricky Singular Words: Words like food (uncountable), everyone (indefinite pronoun), and who (question subject) are treated as “It/He/She”. Always use is, has, does, or add an -s to the verb!