title: Tense (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics)
author: Comrie
description: An introduction to the kinds of tense distinctions made by different languages. Defines tense as the grammatical expression of location in time and attempts to capture the potential range of tense distinctions possible in natural language with examples drawn from a wide range of languages.
zlib_text: A tense may be defined as that form of a verb which indicates the time and the state
  of an action or event. In�this�manner�a�verb�may�refer�to
  (A) Time�of�an�Action (Tense)
  For�example
  (i) He�goes�to�school.
  (Present�time�of�an�action)
  (ii) He�went�to�school.
  (Past�time�of�an�action)
  (iii) He�will�go�to�school.
  (Future�time�of�an�action)
  From the above sentences, it will be clear to the students that there are three
  main�tenses.
  1. The�Present�tense
  2.�The�Past�tense
  3.�The�Future�tense
  (B) State�of�an�Action (Function�of�Tenses)
  For�example
  (i) I�write�letters�regularly.
  (Present�tense,�Habitual�function)
  (ii) I�am�writing�a�letter.
  (Present�continuous,�Progressive�function)
  (iii) I�have�just�written�a�letter.
  (Present�perfect,�Preceding�function)
  (iv) I�have�been�writing�a�letter�for�some�time.
  (Present�perfect�continuous,�Time�expression)
  (C) Time�Frame�of�a�Tense
  We have following three time frames and in order to get a complete structure of
  tenses,�we�should�know�briefly�all�of�th