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For other uses, see Present tense (disambiguation).

The present tense (abbreviated

PRES

or

PRS)

is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or

event in present time. [1] This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the
meaning of a verb. However, in discussions of specific languages, the term "present tense" is often
used to refer to a particular grammatical form that, depending on the language, may frequently be
used to express the present nature of an action or, in some cases, may be used to express nonpresent action. The discussion in this article focuses on the forms used in various languages.
In English, present tense form may be used to express action in the present, a current state of being,
an occurrence in the future, or an action that started in the past and continues.
There are two common types of present tense form in most Indo-European languages: the present
indicative (i.e., the combination of present tense and indicative mood) and the present subjunctive
(i.e., the combination of present tense and subjunctive mood).

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Contents [hide]

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Languages
Aragons
Bosanski
Brezhoneg
Catal
esky
Deutsch

1 Germanic languages
1.1 English
2 Altaic languages
2.1 Turkish present indicative tense
3 Finno-Ugric languages
3.1 Finnish present indicative tense
4 Hellenic Languages
4.1 Modern Greek present indicative tense
5 Romance languages
5.1 Latin present indicative tense

Espaol

5.2 French present indicative tense

Esperanto

5.3 Italian present indicative tense

5.4 Portuguese present indicative tense

Franais
Gidhlig
Hrvatski

5.5 Spanish present indicative tense

6 Slavic languages
6.1 Bulgarian present indicative tense
6.2 Macedonian present tense

Bahasa Indonesia

7 See also

Italiano

8 References

Magyar

9 External links

Bahasa Melayu

Germanic languages

[edit]

English

[edit]

Nederlands

Norsk (bokml)
Polski
Portugus

The English present tense can be combined with aspects in the following verbal constructions:
The present simple or simple present is used in several ways:
to describe both habits and or routines (habitual aspect) (I eat breakfast every morning at

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Present tense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Slovenina

6:30; I go to work every day), and general facts or the truth (The earth revolves around the
sun);

/ Srpski
Srpskohrvatski /

to present thoughts, feelings, and other unchanging states (stative aspect) (I think so; I like it;
It is hot; The sun always shines in the desert);

Suomi
Svenska

to indicate scheduled events in the near future (so that the simple present verb form actually
indicates future tense) (I take the train tomorrow at 6:00);

Trke

to indicate events at any time in the future in a dependent clause (Ill retire when I reach age
65);

to provide narratives such as instructional narratives (Now I mix the ingredients; now I put the
pan in the oven);
to narrate past events (the historical present) for stylistic effect.
In the present simple, English uses the verb without an ending (I get the lunch ready at one oclock,
usually.) except that in the third person singular, (after he, she, it, your friend, etc.) the suffix -s or
-es is appended to the verb (It gets busy on the weekends; Sarah catches the early train).
The present simple tense is often used with adverbs of repeated time, as in these examples with the
adverbs shown in italics:
I never come to school by cycle.
He always forgets to do his homework.
I never catch the late bus home.
The emphatic present: The present tense can be expressed with emphasis by using the auxiliary
verb do and the uninflected main verb, (I do walk, He does walk).
The present progressive or present continuous: This form is used to describe events
happening now, e.g., I am reading this wiki article, and I am thinking about editing it. This tense is
formed by combining the present form of the verb to be with a present participle.
The present perfect In English this is a present tense with retrospective aspect, which describes
a present state of existence based on past action (I have visited Paris several times; I have listened
to you for five minutes now).
The present perfect progressive: This is used to describe events or actions that have begun
at some point in the past and continue through the present, e.g., I have been reading this book for
some time now.

Altaic languages

[edit]

Turkish present indicative tense

[edit]

In the Turkish language, the pronouns have their own ending according to vowel harmony. Present
tense suffix is "r".

ending

kal-mak sev-mek bul-mak gr-mek

ben m/im/um/m

kalrm

severim

bulurum

grrm

sen sn/sin/sun/sn

kalrsn

seversin

bulursun

grrsn

kalr

sever

bulur

grr

kalrz

severiz

buluruz

grrz

biz

z/iz/uz/z

siz

snz/siniz/sunuz/snz kalrsnz seversiniz bulursunuz grrsnz

onlar lar/ler

kalrlar

severler

bulurlar

grrler

Finno-Ugric languages

[edit]

Finnish present indicative tense

[edit]

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Present tense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also: Finnish verb conjugation

In Finnish, the pronouns have their own ending in the verb. These verbs may be used by
themselves, without the pronoun (except he/she=hn).

olla

laskea

antaa

katsoa

vapista

min

olen

lasken

annan

katson

vapisen

sin

olet

lasket

annat

katsot

vapiset

laskee

antaa

katsoo

vapisee

hn, se on
me

olemme laskemme annamme katsomme vapisemme

te

olette

he, ne ovat

laskette

annatte

katsotte

vapisette

laskevat

antavat

katsovat

vapisevat

Hellenic Languages

[edit]

Modern Greek present indicative tense

[edit]

In Modern Greek, the present tense is used similarly to the present tense in English, and they can
also convey the present continuous. 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 is an
example of present tense conjugation in Greek for the verbs see (), eat () and love
().

()

//

, , ,

// () (), ()

(), ()

Romance languages

[edit]

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

[edit]

In Latin, the present tense can be translated as being progressive or simple. Below is an example of
present indicative tense conjugation in Latin.

plicre debre dicere cupere scre

ego

plic

debe

dc

cupi

sci

tu

plics

debs

dcis

cupis

scs

is, ea, id

plicat

debet

dicit

cupit

scit

nos

plicmus debmus dcimus cupimus scmus

vos

plictis

debtis

dcitis

cupitis

ei, eae, ea plicant

debent

dcunt

cupiunt sciunt

sctis

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.

parler perdre

finir

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partir

[edit]

Present tense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

je

parle

perds

finis

pars

tu

parles perds

finis

pars

finit

part

il/elle/on parle

perd

nous

parlons perdons finissons partons

vous

parlez perdez finissez partez

ils/elles parlent perdent finissent partent

To express (and emphasise) the present continuous, expressions such as "en train de" or "en cours
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

[edit]

In Italian, the present tense is used similarly to that of English. What follows is an example of present
indicative tense conjugation in Italian.

parlare vedere sentire

io

parlo

vedo

sento

tu

parli

vedi

senti

egli/ella

parla

vede

sente

noi

parliamo vediamo sentiamo

voi

parlate

vedete

sentite

essi/esse parlano vedono sentono

Portuguese present indicative tense

[edit]

In Portuguese, the present tense is used almost identically to that of Spanish. What follows is an
example of present indicative tense conjugation in Portuguese.

falar

comer

insistir

eu

falo

como

insisto

tu

falas

comes

insistes

ele/ela

fala

come

insiste

ns

falamos comemos insistimos

vs

falais

comeis

insistis

eles/elas falam

comem

insistem

Spanish present indicative tense

[edit]

In Spanish, the present tense is used similarly to that of English. What follows is an example of
present tense conjugation in Spanish.

hablar

comer

insistir

yo

hablo

como

insisto

hablas

comes

insistes

l / ella / usted

habla

come

insiste

nosotros

hablamos comemos insistimos

vosotros

hablis

comis

insists

ellos / ellas / ustedes hablan

comen

insisten

It should be noted that vosotros and ustedes both signify the second-person plural pronoun. The
main difference between the two is that vosotros is more common in Spain whereas only ustedes is
used in Latin America.

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Slavic languages

[edit]

Bulgarian present indicative tense

[edit]

In Bulgarian, the present indicative tense of imperfective verbs is used very similarly to that of
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

[edit]

The present tense of the Macedonian language is made of the imperfective verbs. The following table
shows the conjugation of the verbs write (/piuva), speak (/zboruva), love (/saka)
and open (a/otvara).

aa

, ,

See also

[edit]

Historical present
Grammatical aspect
Tenseaspectmood

References

[edit]

1. ^ Comrie, Bernard, Tense, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985.

External links

[edit]

English Page
4 Present Tenses Explained
Using the present tenses in English
English Grammar Worksheets
v

Grammatical tenses

Future (Crastinal) Nonfuture Present (Hodiernal) Nonpast Past (Hesternal)

Relative Absolute

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[hide]

Present tense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Categories: Grammatical tenses

This page was last modified on 23 February 2012 at 00:07.

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