Present tense

All the forms that we are learning today are what is called "present tense" forms.

In other words, the verbs all describe an action that is occurring now, in the present. There are other tenses. There is the past tense and the future tense in English, to name a few. Greek verbs will change their form in other ways when they are referring to the past or to the future. But we will not be learning those forms for a long time.

Important: the term "tense" refers to a form of a verb. The present tense is a form of the verb that refers to a present action. ἀκούω means "I hear," and it describes something that is happening now, in the present.