Meaning of "tense" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD TENSE

From Latin tensus taut, from tendere to stretch.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF TENSE

tense  [tɛns]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF TENSE

Tense is a verb and can also act as an adjective.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb tense in English.

WHAT DOES TENSE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Tense

Tense may refer to: ▪ Grammatical tense, a grammatical category expressing the time when a state or action denoted by a verb occurs ▪ Tenseness, a phonological quality frequently associated with vowels and occasionally with consonants ▪ Tense, a state of muscle contraction ▪ Tense, a 2014 studio album by South Korean pop duo TVXQ...

Definition of tense in the English dictionary

The first definition of tense in the dictionary is stretched or stressed tightly; taut or rigid. Other definition of tense is under mental or emotional strain. Tense is also producing mental or emotional strain.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO TENSE

PRESENT

Present

I tense

you tense

he/she/it tenses

we tense

you tense

they tense

Present continuous

I am tensing

you are tensing

he/she/it is tensing

we are tensing

you are tensing

they are tensing

Present perfect

I have tensed

you have tensed

he/she/it has tensed

we have tensed

you have tensed

they have tensed

Present perfect continuous

I have been tensing

you have been tensing

he/she/it has been tensing

we have been tensing

you have been tensing

they have been tensing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I tensed

you tensed

he/she/it tensed

we tensed

you tensed

they tensed

Past continuous

I was tensing

you were tensing

he/she/it was tensing

we were tensing

you were tensing

they were tensing

Past perfect

I had tensed

you had tensed

he/she/it had tensed

we had tensed

you had tensed

they had tensed

Past perfect continuous

I had been tensing

you had been tensing

he/she/it had been tensing

we had been tensing

you had been tensing

they had been tensing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will tense

you will tense

he/she/it will tense

we will tense

you will tense

they will tense

Future continuous

I will be tensing

you will be tensing

he/she/it will be tensing

we will be tensing

you will be tensing

they will be tensing

Future perfect

I will have tensed

you will have tensed

he/she/it will have tensed

we will have tensed

you will have tensed

they will have tensed

Future perfect continuous

I will have been tensing

you will have been tensing

he/she/it will have been tensing

we will have been tensing

you will have been tensing

they will have been tensing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would tense

you would tense

he/she/it would tense

we would tense

you would tense

they would tense

Conditional continuous

I would be tensing

you would be tensing

he/she/it would be tensing

we would be tensing

you would be tensing

they would be tensing

Conditional perfect

I would have tense

you would have tense

he/she/it would have tense

we would have tense

you would have tense

they would have tense

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been tensing

you would have been tensing

he/she/it would have been tensing

we would have been tensing

you would have been tensing

they would have been tensing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you tense
we let´s tense
you tense

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to tense

Past participle

tensed

Present Participle

tensing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «TENSE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «tense» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of tense

adrenalized · antsy · anxious · apprehensive · brace · charged · difficult · edgy · exciting · fidgety · flex · fraught · jittery · jumpy · keyed up · knife-edge · nail-biting · nerve-racking · nervous · on edge · on tenterhooks · overwrought · restless · rigid · stiffen · strain · strained · stressful · stretch · stretched · strung up · taut · tauten · tight · tighten · twitchy · uncomfortable · uneasy · uptight · wired · worrying · wound up

TRANSLATION OF TENSE

Find out the translation of tense to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of tense from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «tense» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 紧张的
• Translator English - Spanish: tenso
• English: tense
• Translator English - Hindi: तनाव
• Translator English - Arabic: مُتَوَتِّر
• Translator English - Russian: натянутый
• Translator English - Portuguese: tenso
• Translator English - Bengali: ক্রিয়ার কাল
• Translator English - French: tendu
• Translator English - Malay: Tegang
• Translator English - German: angespannt
• Translator English - Japanese: 緊張した
• Translator English - Korean: 긴장한
• Translator English - Javanese: Tegang
• Translator English - Vietnamese: căng thẳng
• Translator English - Tamil: பதட்டமான
• Translator English - Marathi: ताण
• Translator English - Turkish: gergin
• Translator English - Italian: teso
• Translator English - Polish: napięty
• Translator English - Ukrainian: напружений
• Translator English - Romanian: încordat
• Translator English - Greek: τεντωμένος
• Translator English - Afrikaans: gespanne
• Translator English - Swedish: spänd
• Translator English - Norwegian: anspent

10 QUOTES WITH «TENSE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word tense.

1

George Ade

Nothing is improbable until it moves into past tense.

2

Pearl Bailey

To talk to someone who does not listen is enough to tense the devil.

3

Martha Beck

I practice staying calm all the time, beginning with situations that aren't tense.

4

Samantha Bond

I'm an appalling flyer. I get very tense, although I no longer weep uncontrollably for no reason - I just sob if there's turbulence.

5

Douglas Booth

I fell in love at 14 and I remember that mad, tense feeling and all the mad things you do for the person - all those extremes and all the stuff you don't mind putting up with.

6

Kate Burton

I made a very concerted decision to go to drama school in the United States. But I did have the opportunity to go to Britain's Central School of Speech and Drama, and my dad and I had a few tense words about that. He wanted me to go to British drama school.

7

Italo Calvino

A quarter of America is a dramatic, tense, violent country, exploding with contradictions, full of brutal, physiological vitality, and that is the America that I have really loved and love. But a good half of it is a country of boredom, emptiness, monotony, brainless production, and brainless consumption, and this is the American inferno.

8

Dennis Crowley

Facebook is about sharing experiences that you've had. Foursquare is more about the present tense and the future tense.

9

Anthony Daniels

Two or three notes of music can instantly make you feel sad or tense or afraid or angry. To do that in words is much more difficult.

10

Hope Davis

Every summer my husband and I pack our suitcases, load our kids into the car, and drive from tense, crowded New York City to my family's cottage in Maine. It's on an island, with stretches of sea and sandy beaches, rocky coasts, and pine trees. We barbecue, swim, lie around, and try to do nothing.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «TENSE»

Discover the use of tense in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to tense and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Tense

For the most part the book is written without formalism, nor is it written within the framework of any specific current theory of linguistics.

Bernard Comrie, 1985

The Grammar of the English Tense System: A Comprehensive ...

The book provides a grammar of tense which can be used both as an advanced reference grammar and as a scientific study which can act as a basis for and stimulus to further research.

Renaat Declerck, Susan Reed, Bert Cappelle, 2006

The Oxford Handbook of Tense and Aspect

This Handbook is a comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible guide to the topics and theories that current form the front line of research into tense, aspect, and related areas.

Robert I. Binnick, 2012

Irregular Past Tense Verbs

As students play these great games they naturally transfer skills they learn in class! Irregular Past Tense Verbs will help your students practice their English through play.

Lori L. Wolfe

Cultural Studies in the Future Tense

It demonstrates what cultural studies can do, giving a broadly interdisciplinary and politically engaged analysis of our contemporary conjuncture. This is an excellent model for future work in the field.

Lawrence Grossberg, 2010

Permanent Present Tense: The man with no memory, and what he ...

In Permanent Present Tense Suzanne Corkin tells the incredible story of the amnesiac Henry Gustave Molaison - known only as H.M. until his death in 2008 - and what he taught medical science, neuroscience and the world.

Suzanne Corkin, 2013

The L2 Acquisition of Tense-aspect Morphology

The analysis of the various languages included in this volume significantly advances our understanding of this phenomenon, and will serve as an important basis for future research.

M. Rafael Salaberry, Yasuhiro Shirai, 2002

Tense Past: Cultural Essays in Trauma and Memory

Tense Past provides a much needed appraisal and contextualization of the upsurge of interest in questions of memory and trauma evident in multiple personality and post-traumatic stress disorders, child abuse, and commemoration of the ...

Paul Antze, Michael Lambek, 1996

The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the ...

Joan Bybee and her colleagues present a new theory of the evolution of grammar that links structure and meaning in a way that directly challenges most contemporary versions of generative grammar.

Joan Bybee, Revere Perkins, William Pagliuca, 1994

Relative Tense and Aspectual Values in Tibetan Languages: A ...

The parts of the book discuss and describe (i) the concepts of TENSE, ASPECT and MOOD; (ii) the Tibetan system of RELATIVE TENSE and aspectual values, with main sections on Old and Classical Tibetan, "Lhasa" Tibetan, and East Tibetan (Amdo ...

Bettina Zeisler, 2004

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «TENSE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term tense is used in the context of the following news items.

Stitchers Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Future Tense

It was another solid episode, from start to finish, and Detective Fisher was finally given something to do. Let's not waste anymore time and discuss "Future Tense. «TV Fanatic, Jul 15»

Tense and fatigued, negotiators extend Iran nuclear talks past …

The revised deadline for Iran, the U.S. and five other Western powers to come to a nuclear agreement came and went without a deal. The White House said ... «PBS NewsHour, Jul 15»

Residents say situation is tense as manhunt for David Sweat continues

... and had automatic weapons. Residents said the situation is tense, but said they are hopeful the new focus means authorities will catch the second convict. «WCVB Boston, Jun 15»

Defamation Lawsuit Leads to Tense Confrontation in Maine

The tense exchange erupted as orphanage founder Michael Geilenfeld arrived for a deposition in a lobby where Paul Kendrick suggested that the truth was ... «New York Times, Jun 15»

Wilson High's 'Future Tense' offers present-tense insight

A senior at Wilson High School, Rincon starred in one of three short plays during the SouthWest StageWorks production of “Future Tense: An Evening with Ray ... «Pamplin Media Group, Jun 15»

Short film: A tense military mission in a post apocalyptic world

The world Wallin creates is mysteriously dead and the fear in the characters is real so you know it'll happen soon, you just have to enjoy the tense ride until it's ... «Gizmodo, May 15»

Clashes Break Out In Delhi's Trilokpuri, Situation Tense

Clashes broke out between residents of Blocks 26 and 27 in East Delhi's Trilokpuri area on Saturday evening, police said. According to the reports, the clashes ... «Focus News, Apr 15»

Video reveals tense moments before Algodones shooting

ALGODONES, N.M. —Nine months after a fatal officer-involved shooting in Algodones, video has been released detailing the tense moments that led up to the ... «KOAT Albuquerque, Apr 15»

John Travolta, Tye Sheridan Have Tense Father-Son Moment in …

A tense moment ensues as Will rebuffs his father, implying information about their past and Raymond's previous failures to come through on the promises he ... «Hollywood Reporter, Apr 15»

Tense? Video explains exactly what stress does to your body

Are you prone to stress? If so, you know it doesn't feel good, but do you know exactly what's happening to you chemically when you're twisted into a tense state? «CNET, Apr 15»