Word meaning of tense

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• enPR: tĕns, IPA^(key): /tɛns/
• Rhymes: -ɛns

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English tens, from Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus. Doublet of tempo and tempus.

Noun[edit]

tense (plural tenses)

2. (grammar, countable) Any of the forms of a verb which distinguish when an action or state of being occurs or exists.

   The basic tenses in English are present, past, and future.

3. (linguistics, grammar, countable) An inflected form of a verb that indicates tense.

   English only has a present tense and a past tense; it has no future tense.

   • 1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The Introduction”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] ‎^[1], London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 32; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972:

     In ſo moche that if any verbe be of the thyꝛde coniugation / I ſet out all his rotes and tenſes […]

4. (linguistics, uncountable) The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.

   Dyirbal verbs are not inflected for tense.

Usage notes[edit]

• Some English-language authorities only consider inflected forms of verbs (i.e. the present and past tenses) as tenses, and not periphrastic forms such as the simple future with will.
• Grammatically tense (the location of an event in time: past, present, future) is often distinguished from aspect (how an event occurs or is viewed by the speaker: finished, ongoing, habitual, etc.). So I am eating and I was eating have different tenses (present and past) but the same aspect (continuous), whereas I was eating and I had eaten have the same tense (past) and different aspects (continuous and perfect). However, it is common in English (especially in language teaching) to refer to aspects as tenses (e.g. the perfect tense, the continuous tense).

Derived terms[edit]

• tensal

[edit]

• See: Category:en:Tenses

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

tense (third-person singular simple present tenses, present participle tensing, simple past and past participle tensed)

1. (grammar, transitive) To apply a tense to.

   tensing a verb

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from Latin tēnsus, one form of the past participle of tendō (“stretch”). Ultimately identical to Etymology 1.

Adjective[edit]

tense (comparative tenser, superlative tensest)

1. Showing signs of stress or strain; not relaxed.

   Synonyms: stressed, unrelaxed

   You need to relax, all this overtime and stress is making you tense.

2. Pulled taut, without any slack.

Derived terms[edit]

• hypertense

[edit]

• tend
• tension
• tent
• intense

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

tense (third-person singular simple present tenses, present participle tensing, simple past and past participle tensed)

2. (transitive) To make tense.
4. (intransitive) To become tense.

Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

• ESnet, Enets, NEETs, Stene, Tenes, enset, neets, seent, senet, sente, steen, teens

Latin[edit]

Participle[edit]

tēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of tēnsus

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

tense

1. inflection of tensar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Mom backed away, and Grandma sat down again, her expression tense and frightened. ❋ Elizabeth Scott (2008)

The word tense at this juncture would be a grave understatement. ❋ Kimani Kinyua (2006)

To millions of schoolchildren, the word tense meant only how you felt before a pop quiz. ❋ William Safire (2003)

She bent closer, her expression tense with concentration. ❋ Jayne Ann Krentz (1998)

In English grammar, the term tense is reserved for verbs (associated with the concept of time). ❋ Unknown (2008)

During an appearance on Fox News’ morning program «Fox and Friends,» Ingraham criticized Romney for what she described as his tense debate performance. ❋ Rebecca Shapiro (2012)

However, I agree absolutely with Zarcero, the future tense is alive and well and commonly used by native Spanish speakers in México. ❋ Unknown (2009)

A change in tense from past to present is a shift in modality from «this did happen» to «this is happening.» ❋ Hal Duncan (2010)

The tense is also in the imperative/command form in that he is telling the watch not to mark time, the colloquial being to “freeze” time. ❋ Unknown (2009)

* The mark of a championship club is to win tense matches on the road. ❋ Steve Goff (2010)

I was raised with an in tense conviction that if I touched it without permission my birth certificate would be revoked! he never said it, but when I was ready to handle a weapon, he taught me. ❋ Unknown (2010)

ONE of the reasons I don’t often use the true future tense is that I don’t often know exactly when it is appropriate (instead of the other more-or-less «future» forms available to a Spanish speaker). ❋ Unknown (2009)

Remember that the present tense is used to indicate a near-future event. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Future tense is used all the time in Mexico and all the other Spanish-speaking countries. ❋ Unknown (2009)

He seems [really] tense ❋ Dee Anna (2006)

eg1- That party was Tesnse!
eg2- [jon]:im [grounded] steve:[ohhh] thats tense! ❋ Tom (2005)

me:wanna do [fun stuff]
[amal]:no im tense [rn] ❋ Slattttttttt (2020)

[Rey]: Dude, this guy just [scaled] that 6 story building.
[Finn]: Man, he is so tense. ❋ DaMostInterestingDudeINDaWorld (2018)

[Alicia] was tensing [when the] man was [raping] her ❋ Shortstuffjo (2006)

You broke a [plate], [porco] [Tensing] porco Tensing! ❋ Dakota264 (2020)

[Rod] and [I will be] over for dinner sex tense, thinking around [7ish]. ❋ CLRG (2014)

«Stop man!» «Wow were you [dealing] with [money]? [What a] tense maria ❋ Eman9921 (2011)

[Erlend]: sorry I couldn’t join you guys yesterday. I had to rehearse for a TenSing musical.
[Fredrik]: really? Because we had eyes on you and a very cute blonde at Laundromat…
Erlend: folds all right, I was at a [Tinder date].
Everybody: hahahaha ❋ DJHellduck (2016)

«No problems, my friend. It [shall] be done.»
«Don’t you mean it wil-»
«[Epic tense]. [Shut the fuck up].» ❋ RexR (2008)

Recent Examples on the Web

At tense emergency meetings last month, farmers claimed that rogue actors were secretly cutting holes in levees, violating longstanding traditions about the order in which farms were supposed to be flooded in wet years.


—Shawn Hubler, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2023




The result is tense, frightening and wildly effective.


—Jason Bailey, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 2023




In tense meetings with the attorney general’s office, the pair argued that the Boston Police Department had fed false information to the press and failed to exchange the names of suspects with other law enforcement agencies, among other examples of mismanagement.


—Nathan Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Mar. 2023




Last week’s double episode premiere ended on a cliffhanger with Jonna and KellyAnne’s tense conversation about the upcoming elimination — Jonna is in power, and has to choose between throwing Jodi or KellyAnne into elimination.


—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 15 Mar. 2023




An altered Kentucky House Bill 470 cleared a tense Senate Families and Children Committee meeting Tuesday morning on a 6-3 vote.


—Olivia Krauth, The Courier-Journal, 14 Mar. 2023




Julien — who is a police officer — reminded his mom that Osama could be scamming her during a tense conversation.


—Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2023




The visit came hours after a tense town meeting where angry residents demanded that town officials address ongoing safety issues.


—Harold Maass, The Week, 17 Feb. 2023




About 20 minutes before the deadline, several taxis and vans arrived on the New York side, carrying people from Haiti, Georgia and other countries who were visibly tense.


—Ian Austen, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2023

Pick a set of body muscles (e.g., your legs, arms, or shoulders), then take turns tensing and relaxing them.


—Sarah Klein, Health, 13 Mar. 2023




When a person is aroused, their muscles tense up.


—Yerin Kim, Seventeen, 29 Sep. 2020




Zitterbart gripped the unwieldy tagging pole and stood tensed, one foot on the bow box and one in the boat.


—Kate Wong, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2023




When the guilty verdict was announced, Murdaugh tensed his shoulders and shook lightly while standing and waiting to hear his fate.


—Dan Rosenzweig-ziff, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2023




Don’t tense up.


—Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 18 Dec. 2021




And when your mind is on edge, your muscles often follow suit and tense up in response.


—Jenny Mccoy, SELF, 17 Jan. 2023




Conversation at the dinner table shifts from mundane to tense at the mention of the solar panels.


—K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2023




Piccard instructed Verstraeten to hold out his thumb and tense his muscles as much as possible.


—Ben Taub, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2022

And recent teacher reviews mostly refer to both sites in the past tense.


—Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2023




Users are reporting other mistakes made by Bing’s A.I., including instances of it responding to users in the past tense for future events, failing to answer basic questions about the current year, and giving incorrect answers to financial calculations.


—Byprarthana Prakash, Fortune, 17 Feb. 2023




Is that the correct tense?


—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 1 Nov. 2022




This tense is shifty.


—Devin, Longreads, 9 Sep. 2020




In another tweet underneath that one, Jones seemed to reveal that he could potentially be done playing football, speaking of his seven-year career — before missing last season — in the past tense.


—David Furones, Hartford Courant, 26 Feb. 2023




Over the past 24 hours, Rodgers has been posting and talking about his relationship in a tense that can only be described as present.


—Vulture, 22 Feb. 2022




Khan releases all this backstory information in a slow, naturalistic drip while still keeping the drama tense, with further surprises in store, right up to the end.


—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Jan. 2023




The verbs can change their form according to, variously: the subject’s grammatical person and number; the tense, of which there are various grades; the mood, of which there are four distinct types; and the voice, of which there are three.


—Han Kang, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023


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