A verb tells if the action is in the present (taking place), future (yet to take place), or past tense (took place). “Lean” will be discussed in this article in all tense forms.
“Lean” means to move, incline or bend to a slopping position, to rest against something or someone for support, and to favor or choose someone or something above others. The past, present, and future tenses of “lean” can all be represented using inflections in simple, perfect, continuous, and perfect continuous forms.
The utilization of the verb “lean” to denote the time that an action happened, is happening, or will happen is explained thoroughly in this article.
“Lean” in present tense
When a verb is in the present tense, it means that the action occurs regularly or is happening currently. In this section, we will examine all the present tense forms of “lean.”
The verb “lean” in the present tense has forms like, ‘lean,’ ‘leans,’ ‘has/have been leaning,’ ‘is/are/am leaning,’ and ‘has/have leaned/leant,’ in the simple present, present perfect continuous, present continuous, and present perfect tenses respectively.
When is “lean” used in the present tense?
The verb “lean” is used in the present tense to represent the actions of inclining, moving or bending to a slopping position, depending on, favoring or choosing someone or something above the rest and resting against a person or thing for support, which occurs regularly or continues in the current moment.
Examples of “lean” in the present tense
| Examples | Explanations |
| a. I/ We lean on my/our parents in all my important times, rain or shine; they will always be there for me. b. You lean on your parents in all your important times, rain or shine; they will always be there for you. c. Vikrant leans on his parents in all his important times, rain or shine; they will always be there for him. d. These boys on lean their parents in all their important times, rain or shine; they will always be there for them. | These lines use the simple present tense of the verb “lean” and its inflected form, ‘leans’ (which is generated by adding an ‘s’ to the base verb). The verb forms “lean” and ‘leans’ here signify that the subject constantly (happens regularly) depends on his/her/their parents for support in all his/her/their important times as they will always be there for him/her/them. |
| a. I am leaning out of the door to check who rang the bell just now. b. We are leaning out of the door to check who rang the bell just now. c. You are leaning out of the door to check who rang the bell just now. d. Kiran is leaning out of the door to check who rang the bell just now. e. They are leaning out of the door to check who rang the bell just now. | The verb “lean” is used in these instances in the present continuous tense as in ‘am/is/are leaning.’ The suffix ‘-ing’ is added to the verb “lean” to produce the present continuous form (leaning), which indicates that the subject is currently inclining or bending (continuing to happen at this very present moment) in a sloppy position out of the door to check rang the bell just now. |
| a. I/we have always leant/leaned on my/our best friends for moral support whenever I/we faced a problem. b. You have always leant/leaned on your best friends for moral support whenever you faced a problem. c. Veronica has always leant/leaned on her best friends for moral support whenever she faced a problem. d. They have always leant/leaned on their best friends for moral support whenever they faced a problem. | Both ‘leaned’ and ‘leant’ are acceptable past participle forms of the verb “lean”. In these examples, the forms ‘has/have leant’ or ‘has/have leaned’ signify that the subject depended on his/her/their best friends for moral support whenever she/he/they faced a problem. The present perfect tense is used to demonstrate that the action of depending on the best friends began in the past yet continues to happen in the present. |
| a. Since the beginning of the discussion, I/we have been leaning toward Sarath’s ideas. b. Since the beginning of the discussion, you have been leaning towards Sarath’s ideas. c. Since the beginning of the discussion, the manager has been leaning towards Sarath’s ideas. d. Since the beginning of the discussion, the board members have been leaning towards Sarath’s ideas. | The action verb “lean” is used in these example sentences in the present perfect continuous form, ‘has/have been leaning.’ Here, the subject is shown to have begun to incline towards or favor Sarath’s ideas since the beginning of the discussion using the present perfect continuous form. Favoring or choosing Sarath’s ideas over others started at the beginning of the meeting and is still going on now. |
“Lean” in past tense
When a verb is in the past tense, it means that the act is over (happened/was happening sometime in the past). Here, we will analyze how “lean’ is employed in all past tense forms.
The verb “lean” in the past tense consists of forms such as ‘leaned/leant,’ ‘had been leaning,’ ‘was/were leaning,’ and ‘had leaned/leant’ in the simple past, past perfect continuous, past continuous and past perfect tenses respectively.
When is “lean” used in the past tense?
The verb “lean” is used in the past tense to indicate the actions of bending, inclining or moving to a slopping position, favoring or choosing someone or something above the rest, depending on, and resting against a person or thing for support, which have started and completed before the present time now.
Examples of “lean” in the past tense
| Examples | Explanations |
| a. I/We leaned/leant on the classroom wall for one last time as it was my/our final day of college. b. You leaned/leant on the classroom wall for one last time as it was your final day of college. c. She/They leaned/leant on the classroom wall for one last time as it was her/their final day of college. | In the given contexts, the verb “lean” is employed as ‘leaned’ or ‘leant’ by adding the ‘-ed’ or ‘-t’ suffix. The simple past tense of the action verb “lean” can be used as either ‘leaned’ or ‘leant.’ The use of the simple past tense in this sentence indicates that the subject’s action of resting against the classroom wall for one last time occurred on the final day of college, indicating that the action is completed before now. |
| a. I was leaning on my mother’s shoulder when he was speaking to me. b. We were leaning on our mother’s shoulder when he was speaking to us. c. You were leaning on your mother’s shoulder when he was speaking to you. d. Shrishti was leaning on her mother’s shoulder when he was speaking to her. e. The kids were leaning on their mother’s shoulder when he was speaking to them. | In these lines, the action verb “lean” is modified with the suffix ‘-ing.’ The word “lean” transforms to ‘was/were leaning’ in the past continuous. The use of the past continuous tense here emphasizes the fact that the subject was resting (was taking place in the past) on his/their/her mother’s shoulder when he was speaking to him/her/them (which also occurred in the past). |
| a. I/We/You/He/ They had leaned/leant in support of favoring the employees in this issue. | The past perfect tense, ‘had leaned’ or ‘had leant,’ is formed by joining the verb ‘had’ with the past participle ‘leaned’ or ‘leant’ of the root verb “lean.” This sentence’s use of the past perfect tense, ‘had leaned/leant,’ implies that the subject had already favored or chosen (action is completed already) to support the employees in this issue. |
| a. I/We/You/She/They had been leaning on this gate when Divya visited me/us/you/her/them last month. | In this example sentence, the verb form ‘had been leaning’ is in the past perfect continuous tense. When Divya visited him, her, or them last month (the previous month), it signifies that the subject had been resting (was happening the same time when Divya visited the subject) herself, himself or, themselves on this gate. |
“Lean” in future tense
When a verb is in the future tense, it means that the act has not yet occurred and will occur after now. Here, we will learn the usage of “lean” in all its future tense forms.
The verb “lean” in the future tense comprises different forms such as ‘will lean,’ ‘will have been leaning,’ ‘will be leaning,’ and ‘will have leant/leaned’ in the simple future, future perfect continuous, future continuous and future perfect tenses respectively.
When is “lean” used in the future tense?
The verb “lean” in the future tense is used to represent the activities of favoring or choosing someone or something above the rest, depending on, and resting against a person or thing for support, and bending, inclining or moving to a slopping position, which have not taken place yet but will in the future.
Examples of “lean” in the future tense
| Examples | Explanations |
| a. I/We/You/She/They will lean forward and whisper the answers to my/our/your/her/their friends when the test is taking place. | The root verb “lean” is used as ‘will lean’ in this sentence. The action of moving or bending forward and whispering the answers to his/her/their friends has not yet happened, but it will when the test is taking place and this is marked by the use of the simple future tense form ‘will lean.’ |
| a. I/we/you/he/they will be leaning on Suresh for financial help. | The action word (verb) “lean,” which is used in the future continuous tense form ‘will be leaning,’ indicates that the subject will depend on Suresh for financial help. The use of future continuous tense here shows that the action of depending on Suresh will be happening in the future. |
| a. I/We/You//he/They will have leaned/leant towards supporting this decision by this day next month. | In the future perfect tense, the action word (verb) “lean” becomes ‘will have leaned/leant.’ Its use in this example implies that the subject will either not be in favor of this decision until this day next month, or that the subject will have favored this decision by this day (today – present) next month (following month –future). |
| a. Once I/we/you/he/they get to know the complete truth, I/we/you/he/they will have been leaning towards the management’s decisions. | When the subject gets to know the complete truth (at a point in the future), the future perfect continuous form of the action verb “lean”—‘will have been leaning’—conveys to us that the subject will have been favoring and supporting the management’s decision. |
Conclusion
In order to convey several meanings in a range of circumstances, this article discusses how to represent the action word (verb) “lean” in all variations (forms) of the three tenses — future, present, and past.
Hi… I am Sowndharya Jagadeeswaran, a university rank holder in M.A. English Literature. I have also done my master’s in Business Administration. Inquisitive as I am, my interest in action-oriented research helped me publish research papers in reputed journals. Now, as a career, I am an instructor where I teach young and adorable students the intricate technicalities of Public Speaking and Creative Writing. I also enjoy writing articles on topics I specialize and research in.
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