Definition of Tense:
Tense is the form that a verb takes to show the time it happened.
So if someone ask me to give an example of the present tense can I answer with the basic from of a verb eg, be, play, work etc. instead of saying a full sentence like: I play football every day?
Likewise, an example of the past tense is played, not I played football yesterday?
Thanks in advance.
It probably depends who is asking and the full scope of the question, but I would avoid giving single word answers.
Here is my reasoning:
"I am playing football" is present continuous tense.
"I play football every day" is simple present tense.
"I will play football tomorrow" is future tense.
"I have played football 3 times this week" is present perfect tense
Notice that in these 4 examples, 2 have the same word "play" but they are two different tenses and then one looks as if it's past, but it's present perfect.
I could go on with examples of the different forms, but I think you get the idea! It's not a one-word-fits-all senario.
Here is a good source to look at: The English Space
