en_gwt/02_morphology_files/present.md

1.5 KiB
Raw Permalink Blame History

Present

Present is a tense. Tense helps the reader to know what kind of action something is.

The present tense often helps the reader to know that an action is happening. The action is often in progress, not finished, or not completed.

What types of words use tense?

  • Verbs

More information about this topic

Some scholars think people use tense to show how they perceive how an action occurs or want to portray an action to occur. They think this tense does not directly tell the reader what an action is like or when an action happens.

When a verb is in the present tense and in the indicative mood, it tells the reader that the action is happening now, but has not been completed or finished.

How is it used in a sentence?

  • It can tell both the time of action and the authors perspective.
  • It can tell the reader that the action is happening at that moment.
  • It can be used to speak about an action that happened in the past and continues to now.
  • It can tell the reader that the action has been completed at that moment.
  • It can be used to talk about/describe something that happened in the past. However, it is written about as if it was happening at that moment.
  • It can describe something that happens many times or repeatedly.
  • It can be used to talk about something that does not happen at one point in time. Instead, it is timeless or universal.
  • It can be used to talk about an action that people were trying to do, but never did.
  • It can be used to speak about the future as if it were happening now.

See: Verb; Indicative