present tense

present tense (presens): a tense whose function it is to denote closeness in time or in reality. Present tense verbs most commonly refer to actions/events/states that belong to the present time, or that have general validity. With a third person singular subject, a present tense verb ends in -s. With other types of subjects the present tense form is identical to the base form of the verb. A present tense form can combine with the progressive aspect (she is running), with the perfective aspect (she has run), or with the passive voice (she has been run over by a car), or any combination of aspect and voice, e.g. she has been running.