Routines: Present Simple & Time

Describing your daily life, habits, and schedules.

LEARNING GOALS

check_circleI can describe my daily routine
check_circleI can say how often I do things
check_circleI can use in, on and at with times, days and dates

A114 min

menu_book

PART 01

Discover

Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.

Elena always wakes up at 6:30 in the morning. She usually goes for a run before breakfast, and she often listens to music while she runs.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, she works from the office. On other days, she works from home. In the evening, she sometimes cooks dinner for her family, but she rarely cooks on weekends — that’s when her husband takes over the kitchen!

She is never late for work, and she hardly ever skips her morning run, even in winter.

format_quoteEXAMPLE

Notice how the adverbs of frequency (always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never) go before the main verb, but after “is”: “she is never late.”

spellcheck

PART 02

Learn

Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.

The Present Simple is used to talk about facts, routines, and things that are true in general. It is not for things happening right now!

The Present Simple

The Present Simple is very easy for most pronouns, you just use the base verb! But we must remember the “superman S” for he, she, and it.

Positive

I / You / We / They work
He / She / It works (add -s)

Spelling rules for he/she/it:

Add -es to verbs ending in -sh, -ch, -s, -x, -o: go → goes, watch → watches
Change consonant + y to -ies: study → studies

Negative

We use don’t or doesn’t.

I / You / We / They don’t work
He / She / It doesn’t work (The ‘s’ is already in doesn’t, so the verb is normal!)

Questions

We use Do or Does.

Do you work here?
Does she like coffee?

warningWARNING

Never say ~~“She doesn’t works.”~~ Once you use does or doesn’t, the main verb goes back to normal!

Adverbs of Frequency

To explain how often we do a routine, we use adverbs of frequency.

Always (100%)
Usually (80%)
Often (70%)
Sometimes (50%)
Rarely / Hardly ever (10%)
Never (0%)

Position rule: They go before the main verb, but after the verb ‘to be’.

I always drink coffee in the morning.
She is never late.

Prepositions of Time: In, On, At

To say when something happens, we use three prepositions:

At: for precise times and holidays. (at 7:00 pm, at midnight, at Christmas)
On: for days and dates. (on Monday, on weekends, on May 4th)
In: for months, years, and parts of the day. (in January, in 2023, in the morning/afternoon/evening)

format_quoteEXAMPLE

“I usually wake up at 7:00 am on Mondays. In the evening, I watch TV.”

boltQUICK REVIEW

Frequency scale: always → usually → often → sometimes → rarely → never
Position: before the main verb (I always drink…), after to be (she is never late)
at 7:00 / night · on Monday / May 4th · in January / the morning

quiz

PART 03

Practice

Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.

0 / 4 correct

1. She ___ wakes up at 6:30. (100% of the time)

2. She wakes up ___ 6:30 in the morning.

3. She is ___ late for work. (0% of the time)

4. ___ Mondays, she works from the office.

draw

PART 04

Use It

Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.

PROMPT

Describe your typical Monday. What time do you wake up? What do you do in the afternoon?

0 words

checklistCHECK YOURSELF

Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?

I can describe my daily routineI can say how often I do thingsI can use in, on and at with times, days and dates