Present Simple – Negative Form
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson goal
In this lesson you will learn to build negative sentences in the Present Simple 📖. You will see how to make a negative correctly 🧠, when to use don’t and doesn’t ✍️, and how to avoid the most common mistakes 🚫. At the end, test yourself with the quiz at the bottom of the page! 🚀
🌟 How do we make negatives in the Present Simple?
How do you say “I don’t do…”, “You don’t do…” and so on? To turn a positive sentence into a negative one, you need:
- DON’T ➔ with I, you, we, they
- DOESN’T ➔ with he, she, it
📌 General formula:
👉 Subject + don’t/doesn’t + base verb
🔍 Examples
With DON’T (I, you, we, they)
- I don’t like fish. 🐟
- You don’t play football. ⚽
- We don’t study French. 📚
- They don’t have a car. 🚗
With DOESN’T (he, she, it)
⚠️ Remember: use it only with the third person singular
- He doesn’t eat meat. 🍖
- She doesn’t work on Sundays. 🛌
- It doesn’t rain in summer. ☀️
🧩 Summary chart – Negative form
| Subject | Negative | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I / You / We / They | don’t + base verb | I don’t like coffee. ☕ |
| He / She / It | doesn’t + base verb | She doesn’t drive. 🚗 |
❓ Important questions
- When do we use don’t and doesn’t?
➔ Don’t with I/you/we/they – Doesn’t with he/she/it. - Does the verb change after don’t/doesn’t?
➔ ❌ No! It always stays in the base form. Example: He doesn’t like pizza (NOTHe doesn’t likes). - Why don’t we add -s after doesn’t?
➔ Because the -s is already inside “doesn’t”!
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| He doesn’t likes pizza. | He doesn’t like pizza. |
| They doesn’t play tennis. | They don’t play tennis. |
| I don’t eats breakfast. | I don’t eat breakfast. |
👉 Remember: the -s on the third person singular is only for affirmative sentences, never for negatives!
Gap Fill & Translation Exercises
Test yourself! In the first 15 sentences, complete with don’t or doesn’t. In the last 5, write the negative sentences in English, thinking about daily habits.