Present Simple (am/is/are, Do/Does) – Grammar Exercises for A1
Grammar » Grammar Exercises for A1 » Simple Present Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A1
You are a new employee standing in front of your department on your first day. You are introducing yourself, talking about your background, your new colleagues, and your role.
Read the speech below and choose the best option (A, B, or C) to complete each blank.
1 Hello everyone. My name is Alex, and I _____ your new Marketing Assistant.
(A) is
(B) am
(C) be
2 I _____ from Canada, but I live in London now.
(A) comes
(B) coming
(C) come
3 It _____ a great honor to be here and meet all of you today.
(A) is
(B) are
(C) am
4 I _____ three years of experience in digital marketing.
(A) has
(B) have
(C) haves
5 I _____ to learn a lot from this amazing team.
(A) want
(B) wants
(C) am want
6 I know that our company _____ amazing software products.
(A) make
(B) is make
(C) makes
7 I _____ everything about the new project yet, but I am ready to learn.
(A) doesn’t know
(B) don’t know
(C) am not know
8 My previous manager _____ here, but he recommended this company to me.
(A) isn’t work
(B) don’t work
(C) doesn’t work
9 I sit next to Sarah. She _____ my mentor for the first month.
(A) is
(B) does
(C) be
10 Sarah _____ me understand the daily office tasks.
(A) helps
(B) help
(C) do help
11 Sarah and I _____ the same office space near the window.
(A) shares
(B) sharing
(C) share
12 The other team members _____ also very friendly and welcoming.
(A) do
(B) are
(C) is
13 They _____ hesitate to answer my questions.
(A) aren’t
(B) doesn’t
(C) don’t
14 I am a morning person, so I _____ at my desk by 8:30 a.m. every day.
(A) usually am
(B) am usually
(C) do usually
15 Before I finish my introduction, _____ any questions for me?
(A) do you have
(B) are you have
(C) have you
16 _____ to ask about my background or my previous jobs?
(A) Does anyone wants
(B) Do anyone want
(C) Does anyone want
17 I see that everyone in this room _____ very busy today.
(A) are
(B) is
(C) be
18 My new role _____ organizing the weekly meetings.
(A) includes
(B) include
(C) is include
19 If we meet in the hallway, please say hi and tell me: What _____ here?
(A) are you do
(B) do you do
(C) do you
20 The director _____ us to be late for the meeting, so let’s start working! Thank you!
(A) doesn’t wants
(B) don’t want
(C) doesn’t want
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 B
- Why it’s correct: The subject is “I”, so the correct “to be” verb is “am”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A “is” is for he/she/it. Option C “be” is the unconjugated base form and cannot follow the subject directly in this tense.
2 C
- Why it’s correct: With the subject “I”, the main verb “come” stays in its base form.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A incorrectly adds an “-s”, which is only for 3rd person singular. Option B “coming” needs a “to be” verb (am coming) and would change the meaning to Present Continuous.
3 A
- Why it’s correct: “It” is a singular 3rd person subject, requiring the verb “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B “are” is for plural subjects (we/you/they). Option C “am” is only for “I”.
4 B
- Why it’s correct: “I” takes the base form “have”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A “has” is for he/she/it. Option C “haves” is grammatically incorrect (the 3rd person form of have is has, not haves).
5 A
- Why it’s correct: The subject “I” takes the base form “want”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B is for he/she/it. Option C is a fundamental error: you cannot mix the “to be” verb (am) directly with a base action verb (want).
6 C
- Why it’s correct: “Our company” is a singular subject (it). Therefore, we add “-s” to the verb → “makes”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A misses the “-s”. Option B incorrectly mixes the “to be” verb with an action verb.
7 B
- Why it’s correct: To make a negative sentence with “I” and an action verb (know), we use “don’t”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A “doesn’t” is for he/she/it. Option C “am not know” is a common error of mixing “to be” with an action verb.
8 C
- Why it’s correct: “My previous manager” is singular (he or she), so we use “doesn’t” + base verb (work).
- Why the others are wrong: Option B “don’t” is for plural subjects. Option A “isn’t work” incorrectly mixes the “to be” verb with an action verb.
9 A
- Why it’s correct: “Mentor” is a noun, so we need the “to be” verb to link the subject “She” to it. “She is” is correct.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B “does” is an action/auxiliary verb, not a linking verb. Option C is the base form.
10 A
- Why it’s correct: “Sarah” is a singular subject (she), so the action verb needs an “-s” → “helps”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B lacks the “-s”. Option C “do” is the wrong auxiliary for “Sarah”, and we generally don’t use auxiliaries in positive statements unless for strong emphasis.
11 C
- Why it’s correct: “Sarah and I” equals “we” (plural). Therefore, the verb stays in its base form: “share”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A is a common trap because students see “I” or “Sarah” and mistakenly add an “-s”. Option B is the continuous form without a “to be” verb.
12 B
- Why it’s correct: “Team members” is plural (they), and “friendly” is an adjective. We use the plural “to be” verb: “are”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option C “is” is for singular subjects (like the team, but here it is members). Option A “do” cannot be used with an adjective.
13 C
- Why it’s correct: “They” requires “don’t” to make a negative sentence with the action verb “hesitate”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B “doesn’t” is for singular subjects. Option A “aren’t” is wrong because “hesitate” is an action verb.
14 B
- Why it’s correct: Adverbs of frequency (usually, always, never) must be placed after the “to be” verb (am).
- Why the others are wrong: Option A has the wrong word order. Option C incorrectly uses “do” instead of the “to be” verb needed for the prepositional phrase “at my desk”.
15 A
- Why it’s correct: To ask a question with “you” and the action verb “have”, we must use the auxiliary “do”: “Do you have…?”
- Why the others are wrong: Option C “have you” is outdated or typically requires “got” (Have you got…?). Option B mixes “to be” and an action verb.
16 C
- Why it’s correct: “Anyone” is a singular pronoun (like he/she/it), so we use “Does”. After “Does”, the main verb must return to its base form: “Does anyone want”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B uses “Do”, which is for plural subjects. Option A is a very common mistake: adding an “-s” to the main verb even when “Does” is already used.
17 B
- Why it’s correct: Words like “everyone” and “everybody” are grammatically singular. Therefore, we use “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option A “are” is a common logic trap because “everyone” feels like a lot of people, but grammatically it acts like “it”. Option C is the base form.
18 A
- Why it’s correct: “My new role” is a singular subject (it), so the verb “include” needs an “-s”: “includes”.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B misses the “-s”. Option C mixes “to be” and an action verb.
19 B
- Why it’s correct: This asks about someone’s job/routine. We need the auxiliary “do” for “you”, followed by the main verb “do” (meaning to perform/work): “What do you do?”
- Why the others are wrong: Option C is missing the main action verb. Option A incorrectly mixes “to be” (are) with the base verb “do”.
20 C
- Why it’s correct: “The director” (he/she) requires “doesn’t”. The main verb “want” must stay in its base form.
- Why the others are wrong: Option B “don’t” is for plural subjects. Option A incorrectly keeps the “-s” on the main verb (“wants”) after using “doesn’t”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Stating Facts: Use the Present Simple to talk about things that are permanent or true right now (e.g., I am from Canada, I have experience, I work here).
- “To Be” vs. Action Verbs: Never mix them up! Use am/is/are for descriptions, titles, and locations (I am a manager, She is friendly). Use do/does/don’t/doesn’t for action verbs (I don’t know, Do you have?).
- Tricky Subjects: * The company / My role / The department = It (Add “-s”: The company makes…)
- Sarah and I / The team members = We/They (No “-s”: We share…)
- Everyone / Anyone = He/She/It (Add “-s” or use “is”: Everyone is busy.)
- The “Does” Rule: If you use does or doesn’t, the action verb behind it loses its “-s” (Does anyone want?, NOT Does anyone wants?).