Tense

Tense is a grammatical category that locates an event or state in time relative to the moment of speaking. In many languages, tense marks distinguish past, present, and future, though the exact expression and number of tenses vary widely.

Grammars often distinguish tense from aspect and mood. Tense indicates time relative to utterance (speech time), whereas aspect concerns the internal structure of the event (such as whether it is ongoing or completed), and mood expresses speaker attitude or reality (such as evidentiality or irrealis). In addition, many languages encode tense together with aspect and mood in complex verbal paradigms.

Languages differ in their tense systems. Some have a simple three-way distinction (past, present, future). Others split time into near vs remote past, or mark future with intention or planning. Some languages lack tense entirely and rely on context or temporal adverbs. For example, Mandarin Chinese has little inflection for tense; time is often conveyed through adverbs or aspect markers. English uses a range of tenses and auxiliary constructions to express different times and relations, e.g., "I eat" (present), "I am eating" (present progressive), "I ate" (past), "I will eat" (future).

Historically, the concept of tense derives from Latin tempus. In modern grammar, tense is often analyzed as part of a tense–aspect system, with some languages showing strong interaction between tense, aspect, and sequence of events.

See also: aspect, mood, temporal adverb, sequence of tenses.