Do you know what the present tense is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on present tenses, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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According to Walden, there are many different forms of verbs in the English language, from a simple form of the verb to complex:
Simple present tense
Conditional perfect progressive tense
Conditional progressive tense
Conditional perfect tense
Imperative tense
Indicative tense
Infinitive tense
Perfect passive tense
Simple past tense
Past perfect progressive tense
Present participle tense
Present progressive tense
Gerund tense or gerund phrase
Past perfect tense
Past progressive/continuous tense
Future perfect tense
Bare infinitive tense
Simple conditional tense
Present perfect progressive/continuous tense
Simple future tense
Present perfect tense
Future progressive tense
Present indicative tense
To-infinitive tense
Future perfect progressive tense
Past progressive tense
Present continuous tense
Present perfect progressive tense
Present perfect continuous tense
Subjunctive tense
Past participle tense
Conditional tense
Today we will cover the present tense. This verb tense in English grammar is used to describe things that are currently happening in present time at a specific time, or that are habits or habitual actions, continued action, temporary action, unchanging situations, repeated actions, continuous activity, ongoing action or general truths. There are many different types of present tense forms made from the base form of the verb. Often, the simple present tense is formed by adding “es” or “ies” to the end of a verb, while the present progressing is formed by a form of the verb to be and a verb ending in “ing.” Irregular forms have different conjugations. Present tense verbs are a grammatical tense that is often used. The different forms of the present tense function in similar ways with the time of the action. Past actions and past events are formed by the past tense, for things that happened yesterday, last month or any time in the past. The future tense is used for things that are yet to come, like next year. Take a look at these examples of occurrences and the use of the present tense verb form:
The hamsters are given a certain amount of time to complete the maze in real-time.
I am currently reading three novels.
He has a headache.
The gymnasts bends to stretch her muscles.
I’m editing my homework that my teacher gave feedback on.
The train leaves in five minutes according to the following table.
Her favorite thing to do is get ice cream after tennis practice.
Many different languages also contain words that mean present tense. You may notice that some of these translations of present tense look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of present tense is provided by Word Sense.
Telugu: వర్తమానకాలము
Icelandic: nútíð (fem.)
Kumyk: гьалиги заман (haligi zaman)
Lithuanian: esamasis laikas (masc.)
Nogai: аьлиги заман
Uzbek: hozirgi zamon
Belarusian: цяперашні час
Hungarian: jelen idő
Persian: حال (hâl)
Georgian: აწმყო
Russian: настоя́щее вре́мя (neut.)
Chuvash: хальхи вӑхӑт
Scottish Gaelic: tràth làthaireach (masc.)
Estonian: olevik
Hebrew: לשון הוה
Navajo: tʼáhdii
Romanian: prezent (neut.), timpul prezent (neut.) def. form, timpurile prezent (n-p) def. form
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.