Editing Grammatical tense (section)

==Uses of the term==
In modern linguistic theory, tense is understood as a category that expresses ([[Grammaticalization|grammaticalizes]]) time reference; namely one which, using [[grammar|grammatical]] means, places a state or action in time.<ref name="Fabricius-Hansen">{{cite book |last1=Fabricius-Hansen |first1=Catherine |editor-last1=Brown |editor-first1=E.K. |editor-last2=Anderson |editor-first2=A. |title=[[Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics]]|chapter=Tense |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Boston |pages=566–573 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name="Comrie" /> Nonetheless, in many descriptions of languages, particularly in traditional European grammar, the term "tense" is applied to verb forms or constructions that express not merely position in time, but also additional properties of the state or action – particularly aspectual or modal properties.

The category of [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]] expresses how a state or action relates to time – whether it is seen as a complete event, an ongoing or repeated situation, etc. Many languages make a distinction between [[perfective aspect]] (denoting complete events) and [[imperfective aspect]] (denoting ongoing or repeated situations); some also have other aspects, such as a [[perfect aspect]], denoting a state following a prior event. Some of the traditional "tenses" express time reference together with aspectual information. In [[Latin grammar|Latin]] and [[French grammar|French]], for example, the [[imperfect]] denotes past time in combination with imperfective aspect, while other verb forms (the Latin perfect, and the French {{Lang|fr|[[passé composé]]}} or {{Lang|fr|[[passé simple]]}}) are used for past time reference with perfective aspect.

The category of [[Grammatical mood|mood]] is used to express [[Linguistic modality|modality]], which includes such properties as uncertainty, [[evidentiality]], and obligation. Commonly encountered moods include the [[indicative mood|indicative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]], and [[conditional mood|conditional]]. Mood can be bound up with tense, aspect, or both, in particular verb forms. Hence, certain languages are sometimes analysed as having a single [[tense–aspect–mood]] (TAM) system, without separate manifestation of the three categories.
 
The term ''tense'', then, particularly in less formal contexts, is sometimes used to denote any combination of tense proper, aspect, and mood. As regards [[English language|English]], there are many [[Uses of English verb forms|verb forms and constructions]] which combine time reference with [[continuous aspect|continuous]] and/or perfect aspect, and with indicative, subjunctive or conditional mood. Particularly in some [[English language teaching]] materials, some or all of these forms can be referred to simply as tenses (see [[#English|below]]).

Particular tense forms need not always carry their basic time-referential meaning in every case. For instance, the [[historical present]] is a use of the present tense to refer to past events. The phenomenon of ''[[Counterfactual conditional#The grammar of counterfactuality|fake tense]]'' is common crosslinguistically as a means of marking counterfactuality in [[Conditional sentence|conditionals]] and wishes.<ref name="Iatridou">{{cite journal |last1=Iatridou |first1=Sabine |date=2000 |title=The grammatical ingredients of counterfactuality |journal= Linguistic Inquiry |volume=31 |issue = 2|pages=231–270|doi=10.1162/002438900554352 |s2cid=57570935 |url=http://lingphil.mit.edu/papers/iatridou/counterfactuality.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724025930/http://lingphil.mit.edu/papers/iatridou/counterfactuality.pdf |archive-date=2018-07-24 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name = "prolegomena">von Fintel, Kai; Iatridou, Sabine (2020). [https://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/zdjYTJjY/fintel-iatridou-2020-x.pdf Prolegomena to a Theory of X-Marking] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715025503/https://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/zdjYTJjY/fintel-iatridou-2020-x.pdf |date=2020-07-15 }}. ''Manuscript''.</ref>