1.
tense (grammatical)
A grammatical category that locates an event in time, marking past, present, or future. A core term in linguistics and language teaching.
動詞の時制を覚える。
Memorize the tenses of verbs.
英語は日本語より時制が複雑だ。
English has more complex tenses than Japanese.
日本語には未来時制が独立してなく、現在形で未来を表すことが多い。
Japanese doesn't have an independent future tense; the future is often expressed with the present form.
Compound of 時 (time) + 制 (system). A specialized linguistic term, used mainly in grammar instruction and academic linguistics.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 現在時制: present tense
- 過去時制: past tense
- 未来時制: future tense
- 時制の一致: tense agreement (sequence of tenses)
- 時制を変える: to change the tense
SIMILAR WORDS:
- テンス: tense — the loanword equivalent, used in linguistics papers
- 相: aspect — a related grammatical category (e.g., progressive, perfective)
- 法: mood — another verbal category (indicative, imperative, etc.)