presentform

Presentform is a linguistic term used to describe the form a verb takes to express present tense in a language. It can refer to the inflected form that marks present time and subject agreement, and its exact realization varies across languages. Some languages have a single present form for all persons, while others attach distinct endings to different subjects.

Examples illustrate variation. English typically uses the base form for most present-tense contexts, with third-person singular adding an -s (walk vs. walks). Spanish offers explicit present forms that change with person and number (camino, caminas, caminan). In many languages the present form aligns with a present indicative mood, though some systems also employ present subjunctive or other moods sharing the same stem. In other cases, distinctions such as present simple versus present continuous are expressed syntactically rather than solely through a single present form.

In linguistics and natural language processing, presentform may appear as a feature or label within grammars and lexical resources, helping to distinguish present-tense forms from past, future, or non-finite forms. The term is not universally standardized and its exact usage can vary by language, grammatical framework, or computational model.

See also: tense, mood, aspect, conjugation, present participle, verb lemma, stem, inflection.