present tense
Americannoun
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present tenses
plural
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(in English) the simple present.
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any verb formation or construction used to express an action or state occurring in the present, such as, in English, the present progressive.
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an instance or form of a specific verb expressing an action or state that occurs in the present.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of present tense
First recorded in 1400–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While female curves and volumes offer her a traditional dressmaking structure, women in the present tense, ego and id, are not part of this vision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
I think we have to believe in the present tense.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
"Dolly is like a mother to everyone who lives here," said 24-year-old local Jonah La Grand, clad in a Dolly Parton t-shirt and speaking of her in the present tense.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
He effectively lived without a past, in permanent present tense.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
We speak of them in the present tense, as if we still know them.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
