present tense

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The verb tense expressing action in the present time, as in She writes; she is writing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun grammar : Present tense is the form of language used to refer to an event, transaction, or occurrence which is happening now (or at the present time), or an object that currently exists. Compare with past tense, which is the form of language used to refer to an event, transaction, or occurrence that did happen or has happened, or an object that existed, at a point in time before now; or with future tense, an event, transaction or occurrence that has not yet happened, is expected to happen in the future, or might never happen.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking