Present tense
Grammatical tense
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Through Grammatical tense and Uses of English verb forms
There are two common types of present tense form in most Indo-European languages: the present indicative (the combination of present tense and indicative mood) and the present subjunctive (the combination of present tense and subjunctive mood). In English, the present tense is mainly classified into four parts or subtenses.
- Simple present: The simple present tense is used to talk about states (knowledge, understanding, etc.), or to focus on the frequency of events or actions (e.g. They never bathe.).
- Present perfect: The present perfect tense is utilized for events or states that began in the past and which continue to the moment of speaking. It is often used to express results.
- Present continuous: The present continuous tense is used to describe an action or event which is not yet completed.
- Present perfect continuous: The present perfect continuous tense is used for actions or events that began in the past and continue (or recur) up to the present.
Use
The present indicative of most verbs in modern English has the same form as the infinitive, except for the third-person singular form, which takes the ending -[e]s. The verb be has the forms am, is, are. For details, see English verbs. For the present subjunctive, see English subjunctive.
A number of multi-word constructions exist to express the combinations of present tense with the basic form of the present tense is called the simple present; there are also constructions known as the present progressive (or present continuous) (e.g. am writing), the present perfect (e.g. have written), and the present perfect progressive (e.g. have been writing).
Use of the present tense does not always imply the present time. In particular, the present tense is often used to refer to future events (I am seeing James tomorrow; My train leaves at 3 o'clock this afternoon). This is particularly the case in condition clauses and many other adverbial subordinate clauses: If you see him,...; As soon as they arrive... There is also the historical present, in which the present tense is used to narrate past events.
For details of the uses of present tense constructions in English, see Uses of English verb forms.
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Hellenic languages
Modern Greek present indicative tense
In Modern Greek, the present tense is used in a similar way to the present tense in English and can represent the present continuous as well. As with some other conjugations in Greek, some verbs in the present tense accept different (but equivalent) forms of use for the same person. What follows are examples of present tense conjugation in Greek for the verbs βλέπω (see), τρώω (eat) and αγαπώ (love).
Romance languages
The Romance languages are derived from Latin, and in particular western Vulgar Latin. As a result, their usages and forms are similar.
Latin present indicative tense
The Latin present tense can be translated as progressive or simple present. Here are examples of the present indicative tense conjugation in Latin.
French present indicative tense
In French, the present tense is used similarly to that of English. Below is an example of present tense conjugation in French.
The present indicative is commonly used to express the present continuous. For example, Jean mange may be translated as John eats, John is eating. To emphasise the present continuous, expressions such as "en train de" may be used. For example, Jean est en train de manger may be translated as John is eating, John is in the middle of eating. On est en train de chercher un nouvel appartement may be translated as We are looking for a new apartment, We are in the process of finding a new apartment.
Italian present indicative tense
In Italian, the present tense is used similarly to that of English. What follows is an example of present indicative tense conjugation in Italian.
Portuguese and Spanish present indicative tense
The present tenses of Portuguese and Spanish are similar in form, and are used in similar ways. What follows are examples of the present indicative conjugation in Portuguese.
There follow examples of the corresponding conjugation in Spanish.
Slavic languages
Bulgarian present indicative tense
In Bulgarian, the present indicative tense of imperfective verbs is used in a very similar way to the present indicative in English. It can also be used as present progressive. Below is an example of present indicative tense conjugation in Bulgarian.
*Archaic, no infinitive in the modern language.
Macedonian present tense
The present tense in Macedonian is expressed using imperfective verbs. The following table shows the conjugation of the verbs write (пишува/pišuva), speak (зборува/zboruva), want (сака/saka) and open (отвaра/otvara).
Sinitic languages
In Wu Chinese, unlike other Sinitic languages (Varieties of Chinese), some tenses can be marked, including the present tense. For instance, in Suzhounese and Old Shanghainese, the word 哉 is used. The particle is placed at the end of a clause, and when a tense is referenced, the word order switches to SOV.
In a sentence such as "落雨了", it would be the perfective aspect in Standard Mandarin, whereas this would be analysed as the present tense in contemporary Shanghainese, where 哉 has undergone lenition to 了.