Simple Present – Negative
100% Original Practice Test
Find out what people do and do not do at a community pottery studio. Study the guide, practise 44 questions, then use what you know in four short speaking tasks.
Your Quick Grammar Guide
Studio words: clay is the soft material for making pots; a pottery wheel turns the clay as you shape it; an apron protects your clothes.
Use a negative sentence to say that a person or thing does not do something. Choose don’t or doesn’t from the subject, then use the base verb.
1. How to Form It
I / you / we / they / plural subjects
Positive: subject + base verb
We make small bowls.
Negative: subject + don’t + base verb
We don’t make large plates.
Question: Do + subject + base verb?
Do we make cups today?
He / she / it / one person or thing
Positive: subject + verb with -s or -es
Maya makes cups.
Negative: subject + doesn’t + base verb
Maya doesn’t make plates.
Question: Does + subject + base verb?
Does Maya make cups?
Short and full forms
don’t = do not. doesn’t = does not.
After either helper, use the base verb: It doesn’t turn; we don’t turn.
2. Clue Words & Patterns
every weekon Saturdaysusuallyat weekends
A usual activity
Maya teaches on Saturdays. This tells us what she usually does.
A usual activity that does not happen
Maya doesn’t teach on Sundays. This tells us what she does not do.
The subject decides between don’t and doesn’t. A time phrase such as every week helps explain the routine; it does not choose the helper.
Match the helper to the subject
I / you / we / they → don’the / she / it → doesn’tone name → doesn’tplural names → don’t
I don’t paint the bowls. Sam doesn’t use the wheel. Sam and Jo don’t use it.
Keep the verb in its base form
Notice the verb after the helper: doesn’t make, don’t paint, doesn’t have.
Doesn’t is the form of the helper for he, she and it. The main verb stays in its base form: doesn’t have, not doesn’t has.
Questions are a short Unit 7 preview
Do you use this brush? Does the studio open at nine?
Questions start with Do or Does. Keep the main verb in its base form here too.
3. Watch Out & Common Mistakes
Use doesn’t with one person
Wrong: Maya don’t paint today.
Better: Maya doesn’t paint today.
Maya is one person, so choose doesn’t.
Do not add -s to the next verb
Wrong: He doesn’t makes cups.
Better: He doesn’t make cups.
Doesn’t already carries the third-person form. Use base verb make.
Use don’t with plural subjects
Wrong: The students doesn’t clean up.
Better: The students don’t clean up.
Students is plural, so use don’t.
Use a different pattern with be
Wrong: The room doesn’t be cold.
Better: The room isn’t cold.
With am, is and are, add not to be: I am not, she isn’t, they aren’t. Use don’t or doesn’t with other present simple main verbs.
Try three quick self-checks — no points
Choose: Jo (don’t / doesn’t) use the wheel.
doesn’t. Jo is one person: Jo doesn’t use the wheel.
Correct: We doesn’t paint on Friday.
We don’t paint on Friday. We takes don’t, followed by base verb paint.
Choose: The oven doesn’t (gets / get) hot quickly.
get. Use the base verb after doesn’t.
Before you begin: find the subject, choose don’t or doesn’t, and leave the next verb in its base form.
Speaking: make it personal
Listen to each model, repeat it, then change the details to tell your own story. Speaking practice is for self-assessment and adds no points to the 44-question test.
Practice 1
Tell a partner one thing you do not do in the pottery studio.
Read the model
I don't paint the bowls before they are dry.
Practice 2
Say what one person in your class does not make.
Read the model
My friend doesn't bring a bag. She keeps her apron at the studio.
Practice 3
Describe one studio rule using a negative sentence.
Read the model
We don't touch the oven when it is hot.
Practice 4
Say what the class does not need for a short lesson.
Read the model
We don't need our own brushes. The teacher has a box of clean brushes.
Ready to check your work?
Submit to grade your whole test, OR use 👁 Show Answer per part / per question.
Learning review: what can you do now?
Can you choose don’t or doesn’t for the subject? Can you keep the main verb in its base form? Say what you and another person do not do each week.