tense

[tɛns]

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tenses - tense

A tense is a way to describe when an action or state happens in time. It's like putting a clock on a sentence.

We use tenses all the time when talking about past, present, and future events. For example, "I went to school yesterday" uses the past tense because it happened before now. If you say "I am going to school today", that's the present tense, describing something happening right now. Saying "I will go to school tomorrow" is the future tense, talking about what's still to come. We also use tenses when giving orders or making promises: "Don't eat this" (present), "You were supposed to finish your homework" (past), and "Please don't forget to water my plants" (future).

How common is "tense"?

Word tense is considered uncommon in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

noun

(grammar) Any of the forms of a verb which distinguish when an action or state of being occurs or exists.
(grammar) An inflected form of a verb that indicates tense.
Example: English only has a present tense and a past tense; it has no future tense.
The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.
Example: Dyirbal verbs are not inflected for tense.

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verb

(grammar) To apply a tense to.
Example: tensing a verb

Real examples of "tenses" in context

Daniel Radcliffe Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED

Interview

with some of the tenses that are being used in these verbs.

7:38