Simple Present:

Aktiv: I see, you see, he sees,, we see, you see, they see (ich sehe, du..).

Passiv: I am seen, you are seen, he is seen, we are seen, you are seen, they are seen

(ich werde gesehen, du wirst...)

Don't use the SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN AT THE MOMENT OF SPEAKING. There is another tense with the ending "ing".

For LAWS OF NATURE AND GENERAL TRUTHS AND CUSTOMS we use the SIMPLE PRESENT, we also need it for the description of things, cooking instructions ect.

Law of nature: The sun rises in the east (Die Sonne geht im Osten auf)

General truth: 82 million people live in Germany. (82 Millionen Leute leben in Deutschland).

CUSTOM: I walk to school every day (Ich laufe jeden Tag zur Schule).

DESCRIPTION: This picture shows a small boy who has a football in his hand. (Das Bild zeigt einen kleinen Jungen, der einen Fußball in der Hand hat.)

Summary of a book: The new book by James Lee Burke is about a detective... the story starts in Arizona... (Das neue Buch von James Lee Burke ist über einen Detektiv... die Geschichte beginnt in Arizona)

The following signal words indicate to use the Simple Present:

always (immer)

every day (jeden Tag)

every week (jede Woche)

sometimes (manchmal) HABITS (z.B. I read every day)

usually (gewöhnlich)

often (oft)

never (nie)

After the verbs of perception we also use the "Simple Present"

Example: (want, think, believe, mean, know, understand)

I want to go.

I think it's wonderful.

I believe it's not a solution for the problem

I know that you need sticks for skiing

I don't understand much of Maths.

Don't use the Progessive forms after these verbs: (belong, cost, own, need, seem, remember, forget).

This book belongs to me.

How much does it cost?

I own a Mercedes.

I need to go.

It seems to be cold inside.

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