This is called relative (as opposed to absolute) tense. In some contexts, however, their meaning may be relativized to a point in the past or future which is established in the discourse (the moment being spoken about). Tenses generally express time relative to the moment of speaking. On the other hand, some languages make finer tense distinctions, such as remote vs recent past, or near vs remote future. In recent work Maria Bittner and Judith Tonhauser have described the different ways in which tenseless languages nonetheless mark time. There are also tenseless languages, like most of the Chinese languages, though they can possess a future and nonfuture system typical of Sino-Tibetan languages.
Some languages have only two distinct tenses, such as past and nonpast, or future and nonfuture. The main tenses found in many languages include the past, present, and future. Tenses are usually manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation patterns. In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time reference.
