present-tense
UK[ˌprez.ənt ˈtens]US[ˌprez.ənt ˈtens]
n
A verb form or a set of verb forms that typically express an action or state in the present time and that in English can also express future time
Morpheme Breakdown
present
tense
present
before, now
tense
time
Etymology
The compound term 'present-tense' is a modern grammatical descriptor formed from two words of Latin origin. 'Present' derives from Latin praesens, meaning 'being before one, at hand, existing now', which itself comes from prae- (before) and the present participle of esse (to be). 'Tense' originates from Latin tempus, meaning a division or period of time. In grammatical tradition, this concept of 'time' was applied to the inflectional forms of verbs. Thus, 'present-tense' logically denotes the verb form that places the action or state in the current or immediate temporal frame, directly linking the ancient sense of 'being at hand' to the modern abstract grammatical function.
Analysis
Structure: present (before, now) + tense (time)
- present: From Latin praesent- (stem of praesens), meaning 'being at hand, existing now'. It functions as an adjective used attributively to specify the type of 'tense'.
- tense: From Old French tens (time), from Latin tempus (time, season). It functions as the head noun, indicating a grammatical category.
Examples
In the sentence "She walks to school," the verb "walks" is in the present-tense.
The present-tense can sometimes be used to talk about future events, as in "My flight leaves tomorrow."
Learning to conjugate verbs in the present-tense is a fundamental step in studying English grammar.