Definition:
The time of a verb's action or state of being, such as past, present, and future.
Etymology:
From Latin, "time"Examples & Observations:
- "We must set up a strong present tense against all rumors of wrath, past and to come."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson) - "It is well known that the tense systems of French, English and German teem with logical inconsistencies as they are actually used."
(Edward Sapir) - "Pardon me, I was using the subjunctive instead of the past tense. Yes, we’re away past tents. We’re living in bungalows now."
(Groucho Marx as Captain Spaulding in Animal Crackers) - "All his plays take place in a kind of eternal present tense. He never relies on exposition. He never believes that the past is verifiable. Nothing exists until the actors step out on the stage."
(Carey Perloff) - "Nothing is improbable until it moves into the past tense."
(George Ade) - "I would say the biggest changes--it has caused me to get into the present tense, try not to go too far into the future, not too long into the past. When [the kids] are jumping on your stomach, making a trampoline out of you at six in the morning, that's fun for me. That's present tense."
(Warren Beatty)
Pronunciation: tens
