to tense up — English conjugation

Frequency#19441Regular

Indicative

Present (Simple Present) Regular

The simple present describes habitual actions, general truths, and states. It is the most basic tense in English. For most verbs, add -s or -es for the third person singular (he, she, it).

She speaks three languages.

PronounEnglish
Itense up
youtense up
he/she/ittenses up
wetense up
you (pl.)tense up
theytense up

Past (Simple Past) Regular

The simple past describes completed actions at a specific time in the past. Regular verbs add -ed. There are around 200 common irregular verbs with unique past forms that must be learned individually.

She spoke to the manager yesterday.

PronounEnglish
Itensed up
youtensed up
he/she/ittensed up
wetensed up
you (pl.)tensed up
theytensed up

Present continuous (Present Continuous) Regular

The present continuous describes actions happening right now or temporary situations. Formed with am/is/are + verb-ing. Also used for definite future arrangements.

She is speaking to a client at the moment.

PronounEnglish
Iam tensing up
youare tensing up
he/she/itis tensing up
weare tensing up
you (pl.)are tensing up
theyare tensing up

Past continuous (Past Continuous) Regular

The past continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific moment in the past, often interrupted by another event. Formed with was/were + verb-ing.

She was speaking when the fire alarm went off.

PronounEnglish
Iwas tensing up
youwere tensing up
he/she/itwas tensing up
wewere tensing up
you (pl.)were tensing up
theywere tensing up

Present perfect (Present Perfect) Regular

The present perfect connects the past to the present. It describes experiences, recent events, or situations that started in the past and continue now. Formed with have/has + past participle.

She has spoken at over fifty conferences.

PronounEnglish
Ihave tensed up
youhave tensed up
he/she/ithas tensed up
wehave tensed up
you (pl.)have tensed up
theyhave tensed up

Past perfect (Past Perfect) Regular

The past perfect describes an action completed before another past event — the past of the past. Formed with had + past participle. Always implies a reference point in the past.

She had spoken to him before the meeting started.

PronounEnglish
Ihad tensed up
youhad tensed up
he/she/ithad tensed up
wehad tensed up
you (pl.)had tensed up
theyhad tensed up

Future (will) (Future Simple) Regular

The future simple expresses predictions, spontaneous decisions, and promises. Formed with will + base infinitive. The contracted form will not = won't is very common in spoken English.

She will speak at the conference tomorrow.

PronounEnglish
Iwill tense up
youwill tense up
he/she/itwill tense up
wewill tense up
you (pl.)will tense up
theywill tense up

Future continuous (Future Continuous) Regular

The future continuous describes an action that will be in progress at a specific future moment. Formed with will be + verb-ing. Often used to describe planned or expected ongoing actions.

This time tomorrow she will be speaking to the board.

PronounEnglish
Iwill be tensing up
youwill be tensing up
he/she/itwill be tensing up
wewill be tensing up
you (pl.)will be tensing up
theywill be tensing up

Future perfect (Future Perfect) Regular

The future perfect describes an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. Formed with will have + past participle. Common with time expressions like by then, by the time.

By Friday she will have spoken to all the clients.

PronounEnglish
Iwill have tensed up
youwill have tensed up
he/she/itwill have tensed up
wewill have tensed up
you (pl.)will have tensed up
theywill have tensed up

Subjunctive

Conditional (would) (Conditional) Regular

The conditional describes hypothetical situations and their results. Formed with would + base infinitive. Used in if-clauses, polite requests, and reported speech about future events.

She would speak more if she had the chance.

PronounEnglish
Iwould tense up
youwould tense up
he/she/itwould tense up
wewould tense up
you (pl.)would tense up
theywould tense up