What is the definition of 'tense' in grammar?

Answer 1

Verbs can take various forms, depending on whether they refer to the present or the past, and on the temporal relationship of one event to another. These forms are the tenses. (In English, future is expressed by versions of present tenses.)

Here are a few examples of tenses in English:

Every day we watch television for an hour or two. [simple present, here used for a routinely repeated action]

While I was watching the news, the phone rang. [1: past continuous, denoting an action that was continuing; 2: "rang" is simple past, for an event that happened while the first (watching) was going on]

Are you watching the game on Saturday?[present continuous, here used for the future]

You have been watching too many thrillers. [present perfect, denoting an action that has occurred in the past and continues to occur in the present. This tense causes particular difficulty for adult learners of English. It seems to have no equivalent in other languages, which instead have structures like "You are always watching too many thrillers" and "I am standing here since seven o'clock"]

Different linguists give these tenses different names; the names above are representative, but not definitive.

There are quite a few more tenses in English, but the above demonstrate the function of tense.