The present tense is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to locate a situation or event in the present time. The present tense is used for actions which are happening now. In order to explain and understand present tense, it is useful to imagine time as a line on which the past tense, the present and the future tense are positioned. The term present tense is usually used in descriptions of specific languages to refer to a particular grammatical form or set of forms; these may have a variety of uses, not all of which will necessarily refer to present time. For example, in the English sentence "My train leaves tomorrow morning", the verb formleaves is said to be in the present tense, even though in this particular context it refers to an event in future time. Similarly, in the historical present, the present tense is used to narrate events that occurred in the past. There are two common types of present tense form in most Indo-European languages: the present indicative and the present subjunctive. The present tense is mainly classified into four parts:
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 -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 combinations of present tense with aspect. The basic form of the present tense is called the simple present; there are also constructions known as the present progressive , the present perfect, and the present perfect progressive. 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. 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.
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 forms of use for the same person. What follows are examples of present tense conjugation in Greek for the verbs βλέπω, τρώω and αγαπώ.
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.
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.
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 of the Macedonian language is made of the imperfective verbs. The following table shows the conjugation of the verbs write, speak, want and open.
