# tense

/ˈtɛns/ (US) · /tˈɛns/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/tense
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. nervous or worried

adjective · CEFR B1

feeling nervous, worried, or unable to relax.

For teachers: manifesting psychological stress or emotional strain; characterized by a lack of relaxation.

- The atmosphere in the office was very tense before the big meeting.
- The negotiators remained tense throughout the night, aware that a single misunderstanding could collapse the entire peace process.

### 2. tight or stiff

adjective · CEFR B2

stretched tight or stiff, like a rope or a muscle.

For teachers: stretched tight or rigid; lacking slack or flexibility.

- His neck muscles were tense after sitting at the computer all day.
- The sailor ensured the rope was tense before securing it to the dock, preventing the boat from drifting with the tide.

### 3. grammar time

noun · CEFR B1 · Technical

the form of a verb that shows when an action happened, such as the past, present, or future.

For teachers: a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, typically indicated by verbal inflection or auxiliary forms.

- In English, we use the past tense to talk about things that finished yesterday.
- The student struggled to distinguish between the present perfect and the past simple tense during the advanced grammar workshop.

### 4. to tighten

verb · CEFR B2

to make your muscles tight or to become tight.

For teachers: to make or become tense or stretched; often used reflexively regarding musculature.

- You might tense your shoulders when you are feeling stressed.
- The athlete's muscles began to tense as she waited for the starting pistol to signal the beginning of the race.

## Examples

- The teacher asked us to write the sentence in the past tense.
- When telling a story about your childhood, you should keep your verbs in the past tense so the listener understands when it happened.
- English is often described as having only two morphological tenses—past and non-past—while future time is expressed through modal auxiliaries rather than inflectional endings.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.