Subject Pronouns and Simple Present Tense (Affirmative and Negative) — English 1st Year Middle School — Algerian Curriculum

Introduction

Welcome, dear students! In this lesson, we will learn about Subject Pronouns and the Simple Present Tense. These are two of the most important building blocks in English. After mastering the verb “to be” (am, is, are), the next step is learning how to use other verbs correctly. This lesson is designed for 1st Year Middle School (1ère AM) students following the Algerian English curriculum.

أهلاً بكم أيها التلاميذ! في هذا الدرس، سنتعلم ضمائر الفاعل و المضارع البسيط. هذان من أهم أساسيات اللغة الإنجليزية. بعد إتقان فعل “يكون” (am, is, are)، الخطوة التالية هي تعلم كيفية استخدام الأفعال الأخرى بشكل صحيح.

Learning Objectives

• Identify and use subject pronouns correctly (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)
• Form the simple present tense in affirmative sentences
• Form the simple present tense in negative sentences
• Use the correct verb endings for he/she/it (the -s or -es rule)
• Practice with everyday vocabulary and daily routines

Part 1: Subject Pronouns (ضمائر الفاعل)

Subject pronouns replace the name of a person or thing when they are the subject of the sentence. In Arabic, these are: أنا، أنت، هو، هي، نحن، أنتم، هم.

Subject Pronoun	Pronunciation	Arabic Equivalent	Example
I	/aɪ/	أنا	I am a student.
You	/juː/	أنت / أنتم	You are kind.
He	/hiː/	هو	He is tall.
She	/ʃiː/	هي	She is nice.
It	/ɪt/	هو / هي (لغير العاقل)	It is small.
We	/wiː/	نحن	We are friends.
They	/ðeɪ/	هم / هن	They are happy.

💡 Remember:

• I is always written with a capital letter (كبير) — even in the middle of a sentence.
• You is the same for one person or many people. (أنت للمفرد وأنتم للجمع — نفس الكلمة)
• It is used for animals, things, and ideas. (يستخدم للحيوانات والأشياء والأفكار)
• He = for a boy/man. She = for a girl/woman.

Part 2: The Simple Present Tense — Affirmative (المضارع البسيط — الإثبات)

We use the simple present tense to talk about:

• Habits and routines — العادات والروتين اليومي
  Example: I wake up at 6:00 every day.
• Facts and general truths — الحقائق العامة
  Example: The sun rises in the east.
• Things that are always true — أشياء صحيحة دائماً
  Example: Cats like milk.

Rules for Affirmative Sentences:

Subject Pronoun	Verb Form	Example	Translation
I	base verb (الفعل المجرد)	I play football.	ألعب كرة القدم
You	base verb	You like pizza.	تحب البيتزا
We	base verb	We study English.	ندرس الإنجليزية
They	base verb	They live in Algiers.	يعيشون في الجزائر
He / She / It	verb + s or es	He plays football. / She studies hard.	هو يلعب / هي تدرس بجد

🔑 The Golden Rule:

For He, She, It — we add -s or -es to the verb.
For I, You, We, They — we use the verb WITHOUT any ending.

هذه هي القاعدة الذهبية: مع هو/هي/إيتا نضيف s أو es للفعل. مع أنا/أنت/نحن/هم نستخدم الفعل بدون إضافة.

Spelling Rules for He/She/It (قواعد الإملاء)

Rule	Base Verb	He/She/It Form
Most verbs: add -s	play, eat, sleep, like	plays, eats, sleeps, likes
Verbs ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -o: add -es	watch, go, fix, wash, kiss	watches, goes, fixes, washes, kisses
Verbs ending in consonant + y: change y → ies	study, fly, cry	studies, flies, cries
Verbs ending in vowel + y: just add -s	play, say, buy	plays, says, buys
Verbs ending in -f or -fe: change to -ves (rare)	—	(not common in simple present)

Examples:

• She watches TV every evening. (watch → watches لأنها تنتهي بـ ch)
• He goes to school by bus. (go → goes لأنها تنتهي بـ o)
• She studies English on Saturdays. (study → studies: y → ies)
• He plays tennis every Friday. (play → plays: تنتهي بـ y لكن قبلها حرف علة)

Part 3: The Simple Present Tense — Negative (المضارع البسيط — النفي)

To make negative sentences in the simple present, we use do not (don’t) or does not (doesn’t) + the base verb.

لنفي الجملة في المضارع البسيط، نستخدم:

• don’t (= do not) مع I, You, We, They
• doesn’t (= does not) مع He, She, It

⚠️ Important: When we use doesn’t, the verb goes back to the base form (بدون s). لأن does أخذت الـ s!

Subject	Negative Form	Example	Meaning
I	don’t + base verb	I don’t like coffee.	أنا لا أحب القهوة
You	don’t + base verb	You don’t play piano.	أنت لا تعزف البيانو
He	doesn’t + base verb	He doesn’t eat meat.	هو لا يأكل اللحم
She	doesn’t + base verb	She doesn’t watch TV.	هي لا تشاهد التلفاز
It	doesn’t + base verb	It doesn’t work.	هو لا يعمل
We	don’t + base verb	We don’t study on Friday.	نحن لا ندرس يوم الجمعة
They	don’t + base verb	They don’t live here.	هم لا يعيشون هنا

🔑 Compare these:

• Affirmative: He plays football. (verb + s)
• Negative: He doesn’t play football. (doesn’t + base verb — بدون s)
• Affirmative: She studies hard.
• Negative: She doesn’t study hard. (بدون ies — يعود الفعل إلى أصله)

Part 4: Common Verbs — Vocabulary List (قائمة الأفعال الشائعة)

Here are some common verbs you will use every day. Learn them well!

Verb	Pronunciation	Arabic Meaning	Example Sentence
play	/pleɪ/	يلعب	I play tennis.
eat	/iːt/	يأكل	He eats eggs for breakfast.
drink	/drɪŋk/	يشرب	We drink milk every day.
sleep	/sliːp/	ينام	She sleeps at 9 p.m.
study	/ˈstʌdi/	يدرس	They study English at school.
like	/laɪk/	يحب / يعجب	I like ice cream.
go	/ɡoʊ/	يذهب	She goes to school at 7:30.
watch	/wɒtʃ/	يشاهد	He watches cartoons in the evening.
read	/riːd/	يقرأ	We read books every night.
write	/raɪt/	يكتب	She writes in her notebook.
speak	/spiːk/	يتكلم	They speak Arabic and French.
live	/lɪv/	يعيش	We live in Algeria.
walk	/wɔːk/	يمشي	He walks to the mosque.
do	/duː/	يفعل	They do their homework.
have	/hæv/	يملك / عنده	I have a cat.

💡 Note: have becomes has with He/She/It.
Example: She has a beautiful dress. (وليس have)

Part 5: Practice Exercises (تمارين تطبيقية)

Exercise 1: Choose the correct pronoun (اختر الضمير الصحيح)

1. ______ am a student. (I / He / They)
2. ______ is my friend Ahmed. (I / She / He)
3. ______ are very nice girls. (She / It / They)
4. ______ is a book on the table. (They / It / We)
5. ______ are classmates. (I and Ali → We / They / You)

Exercise 2: Add -s or -es to the verb (أضف s أو es للفعل)

1. He (play) ______ football every Friday.
2. She (study) ______ English at school.
3. It (rain) ______ a lot in winter.
4. My mother (cook) ______ delicious food.
5. He (go) ______ to the mosque on Friday.
6. She (watch) ______ TV in the evening.
7. He (do) ______ his homework every day.

Exercise 3: Complete with the correct form of the verb (أكمل بالشكل الصحيح للفعل)

1. I ______ (get up) at 6 o’clock every morning.
2. She ______ (brush) her teeth after breakfast.
3. We ______ (take) the bus to school.
4. He ______ (like) maths and science.
5. They ______ (speak) English very well.
6. You ______ (have) a nice smile.
7. It ______ (rain) a lot in December.

Exercise 4: Make negative sentences (حوّل إلى النفي)

1. I like coffee. → I ______ ______ coffee.
2. She plays tennis. → She ______ ______ tennis.
3. They live in Oran. → They ______ ______ in Oran.
4. He studies French. → He ______ ______ French.
5. We eat meat. → We ______ ______ meat.
6. It works well. → It ______ ______ well.

Exercise 5: Translate into English (ترجم إلى الإنجليزية)

1. أنا أدرس اللغة الإنجليزية كل يوم. → ______
2. هي لا تأكل اللحم. → ______
3. نحن نعيش في الجزائر. → ______
4. هو يلعب كرة القدم يوم الجمعة. → ______
5. هم لا يشاهدون التلفاز في الصباح. → ______

Answer Key (الإجابات النموذجية)

Exercise 1: 1. I 2. He 3. They 4. It 5. We

Exercise 2: 1. plays 2. studies 3. rains 4. cooks 5. goes 6. watches 7. does

Exercise 3: 1. get up 2. brushes 3. take 4. likes 5. speak 6. have 7. rains

Exercise 4: 1. I don’t like coffee. 2. She doesn’t play tennis. 3. They don’t live in Oran. 4. He doesn’t study French. 5. We don’t eat meat. 6. It doesn’t work well.

Exercise 5: 1. I study English every day. 2. She doesn’t eat meat. 3. We live in Algeria. 4. He plays football on Friday. 5. They don’t watch TV in the morning.

Pronunciation Tips (نصائح للنطق)

The -s ending in the simple present has three different pronunciations:

Sound	When	Examples
/s/	After unvoiced sounds (p, t, k, f)	sleeps, eats, walks
/z/	After voiced sounds and vowels	plays, goes, lives, reads
/ɪz/	After -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, -ge	watches, kisses, fixes, washes

Don’t worry too much about these rules now — you will learn them naturally by listening and speaking!

Summary (ملخص الدرس)

Type	Structure	Example
Affirmative (I/You/We/They)	Subject + base verb	I play football.
Affirmative (He/She/It)	Subject + verb + s/es	He plays football.
Negative (I/You/We/They)	Subject + don’t + base verb	I don’t play tennis.
Negative (He/She/It)	Subject + doesn’t + base verb	He doesn’t play tennis.

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