Welcome to learning about present tense! Present tense is a very important part of English grammar. It tells us about things that are happening right now, at this very moment, or things that happen regularly, like every day or every week. Think of it as describing what's going on in the present time.
Let's start with the first type of present tense - things that are happening right now! When we say 'I am reading a book', we mean the person is reading at this exact moment. 'You are listening' means you are listening right now as I speak. 'The dog is barking' means the dog is making noise at this very moment. These actions are all happening in the present time.
Now let's learn about the second type of present tense - things that happen regularly or are always true! When we say 'I eat breakfast every morning', this doesn't mean I'm eating right now, but that I do this action regularly every day. 'The sun rises in the east' is always true - it happens every single day. 'Birds fly' is a fact that is always true about birds. These are habits, routines, and facts that we use present tense to describe.
Now let's learn the basic rules for simple present tense! For the pronouns I, you, we, and they, we use the basic form of the verb without any changes. So we say 'I play', 'you eat', 'we run'. But here's the important rule: for he, she, and it, we add an 's' to the end of the verb. So 'he plays', 'she eats', 'it runs'. Remember this 's' rule - it's very important for correct English!
Finally, let's learn about using 'am', 'is', and 'are' in present tense! These are special verbs that describe what someone or something is like, or where they are. We use 'am' only with 'I' - 'I am happy'. We use 'is' with 'he', 'she', and 'it' - 'he is tall', 'she is smart'. We use 'are' with 'you', 'we', and 'they' - 'you are kind', 'we are friends', 'they are students'. These verbs help us describe people and things in the present time!