Tense
A grammatical category indicating when an action or state occurs: past, present, or future. Tense is marked through verb forms and auxiliary verbs.
Real World
Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech shifts between past tense (historical oppression) and future tense ('will be judged') to contrast suffering with aspiration.
Exam Focus
Always link tense choice to purpose — present tense creates immediacy, past creates distance; name the specific effect on the reader.
How well did you know this?