How to Use tense in a Sentence

tense

1 of 3 adjective
  • Why are you so tense?
  • It was a tense meeting.
  • We sat quietly for a few tense moments.
  • She was feeling pretty tense.
  • My calf muscles are really tense.
  • But for an hour there, things got tense.
    — Brody Miller, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Hegseth and Driscoll have had a tense year.
    — Missy Ryan, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2026
  • For some, the path to get here has been taut and tense.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 21 May 2026
  • The mood was tense and subdued.
    — Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Each scene that unfolds is thorny and tense.
    — Kati Chitrakorn, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The second half is tense, tight.
    — Franklin Leonard, Vanity Fair, 14 May 2026
  • Things stayed tense through the winter.
    — Olivia Bensimon, Curbed, 17 June 2026
  • That helped make for some tense moments.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2025
  • He was known for keeping a straight or tense look.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
  • But days later, things felt far more tense and nervy.
    — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • Her face hovered over me, dark, young, tense.
    — Literary Hub, 24 Oct. 2025
  • His knuckles were raw white, all tense and clasped on his knees.
    — Literary Hub, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Haidt said life on campus has grown much more tense over the years.
    — Gili Malinsky, CNBC, 13 Mar. 2026
  • At times, the meeting in Page grew tense.
    — Stephanie Murray, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Games 1 and 2 were tense, one-run affairs.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 3 June 2026
  • Mashhad was tense but calm during the day.
    — Davood Moradian, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Those tense calls require such control in your voice.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Relations with your kids, friends and groups might be tense.
    — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 28 May 2026
  • Those seasoned voices should help when things get tense.
    — Joe Smith, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Their meeting, at times, felt awkward and tense.
    — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Which celeb got tense with Howie Mandel?
    — FOXNews.com, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Our hearts race, our muscles tense, and we’re primed to explode.
    — Marc Brackett, Time, 21 Sep. 2025
  • Now, once matter-of-fact lessons have become tense.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 29 May 2026
  • Henley's body was rigid, and her lips thinned into a small tense line.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
  • Discussion on the dais was tense.
    — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2026

tense

2 of 3 verb
  • He tensed up and missed the putt.
  • She tensed as he walked toward her.
  • Muscles get tensed and strained.
    — Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
  • My skin felt dirty, and my stomach tensed with fear.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The uneven ground forces the body to tense with every step.
    — Abraham Nudelstejer, Dallas Morning News, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Utley tensed his leg and let the ball connect with his right foot.
    — Andy McCullough, latimes.com, 9 Apr. 2018
  • Curtis seemed to tense up amid the smooth onslaught.
    — Assistant Editor, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
  • But under stress her body would tense, and her mind would falter.
    — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2022
  • Morris swore, and swore again, his body tensing up in his suit.
    — Eric Boodman, STAT, 27 Mar. 2020
  • As a result, muscles tense up, which will make a shot more painful.
    — NBC News, 28 Oct. 2021
  • For just a beat, the air in the room seemed to tense up around us, as six hundred birds held their breath.
    — Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • My body hardened, my muscles tensed and tightened, even as my mind shut down.
    — Jessica Berger Gross, Longreads, 11 July 2017
  • But Boykin seemed to tense up as the pass arrived, and the ball caromed off his hands.
    — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 2 Aug. 2021
  • The slope down to the sidewalk was barely an inch high, but everyone tensed.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Everyone in the barber shop flinched at the sound and tensed their shoulders.
    — Keri Heath, Austin American Statesman, 5 Mar. 2026
  • And when your mind is on edge, your muscles often follow suit and tense up in response.
    — Jenny McCoy, SELF, 17 Jan. 2023
  • Starting with your head, tense the muscles in your forehead for about five seconds.
    — Carley Millhone, Health, 2 Oct. 2025
  • This can help stretch the muscles in the back of your neck that may be tensing up during prodrome.
    — Julia Ries, SELF, 14 July 2023
  • Firstly, cold weather can cause muscles to tense up—that includes in the pelvic floor.
    — Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 19 Feb. 2022
  • While biting, their jaw muscles tensed to squeeze venom into their meal.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Zitterbart gripped the unwieldy tagging pole and stood tensed, one foot on the bow box and one in the boat.
    — Kate Wong, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Bitu Bingi still tenses up every time a truck rumbles past her house.
    — Jocelyn C. Zuckerman, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023
  • Anyone who has ever watched a horror film will find their muscles tensing.
    — New York Times, 15 Jan. 2020
  • The sound of the gunshot, every muscle in my body tensed, the smell of gunpowder.
    — Gabrielle Union, Glamour, 18 Oct. 2017
  • Be a good child, do what they’re told, be the best child, a tremble in their hands, say nothing, tensed for the knock on the door.
    — Literary Hub, 17 June 2026
  • The video shows Howard tensing up his body and yelling as officers try to wrestle him to the floor.
    — Christal Hayes, OrlandoSentinel.com, 16 June 2017
  • Lie down or sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and tense the muscles in your toes and feet for five seconds, then release.
    — Lisa Bain, Good Housekeeping, 26 May 2023
  • Willa relented, though her shoulders hunched, her face tensing through the initial strokes.
    — David Gilbert, The New Yorker, 4 June 2017
  • The muffled, percussive sounds of the firing range could be heard through the walls, and my body tensed with every pop.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Keep tensing and releasing muscles of the chest, abdomen, pelvis, legs, feet, and toes.
    — Carley Millhone, Health, 2 Oct. 2025

tense

3 of 3 noun
  • The sentence will read better if you change the tense of the verb.
  • You should avoid changing tense in the middle of a paragraph.
  • But do so in the present tense.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 6 Aug. 2025
  • Her time is very much in the present tense.
    — Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Saleh knows his friend is dead but has not switched to the past tense.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2025
  • Sometimes, the past tense slips out.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 12 Apr. 2026
  • Notably, Richards puts this in the past tense.
    — Benny Har-Even, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
  • And don't forget the past tense grated!
    — Asal Rezaei, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Hearing Rue referred to in the past tense…woof.
    — Emma Specter, Vogue, 1 June 2026
  • Slumping over at your desk for hours on end can make your back hurt, your body tense, and your neck strain.
    — Popsci Commerce Team, Popular Science, 26 Feb. 2021
  • Except for the residents, those who know of the town speak in the past tense.
    — Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Stories can be told in the present tense, and then reviewed using past tense forms.
    — Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Days later, Carney’s friends still talk about him in the present tense.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2026
  • The past tense in the preceding paragraph is no typo.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 14 Dec. 2025
  • The narration talked about Fox in the past tense and looked back on his life and work over the years.
    — Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Answers always match their clues in tense, part of speech and foreign languages.
    — New York Times, 1 May 2022
  • Dry, earthy, with a tense, drying touch on the palate and a long lingering red fruit finish.
    — Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2021
  • Any change at all, the nuances- this is one of those things where the experts parse these things down to the tense of the verbs, and so on.
    — CBS News, 17 May 2026
  • And recent teacher reviews mostly refer to both sites in the past tense.
    — Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2023
  • On Captain Wild Bill’s boat, things are getting tense as well.
    — Tyler McCarthy, Fox News, 10 July 2018
  • House Democrats can be forgiven somewhat for being on the wrong side of the verb tense.
    — Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 7 Aug. 2021
  • Trump used the present tense in the interview, even though no such plan currently exists.
    — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2025
  • While her son speaks of his sister in the present tense, Crawford often uses the past tense.
    — Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Any change at all, the nuance is – this is one of those things where the experts parse these things down to the tense of the verb and so on.
    — CBS News, 17 May 2026
  • All discussion about Luboml was conducted in the past tense.
    — Literary Hub, 20 Jan. 2026
  • What struck me most was how Dern spoke of her mother in the present tense, with such vitality and pride.
    — Clayton Davis, Variety, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Hearing their uncertainty on how to control the plane made every nerve in my body tense.
    — Dwayne J. Clark, Forbes, 2 June 2022
  • The election — this tense, angry, virus-plagued and exhausting election — would soon be over.
    — New York Times, 6 Nov. 2020
  • This play seems to be taking place in the present tense, but also in retrospect, through Sofi’s point of view.
    — Liz Appel, Vogue, 8 Sep. 2023
  • Rather than their relationship turning tense, the two quickly bond.
    — Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 19 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tense.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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