Any action word (verb) will denote tense, the time when the action happened, is happening, or will happen. In this article, we shall see the usage of the word “accept” in different tenses.
The verb “accept” means to receive, to take, to believe, to agree, to admit, to approve, to continue despite difficulties, and to allow or welcome. The verb “accept” can be used in simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous forms of the past, present, and future tenses.
This article will explore and explain in detail the usage of the word “accept” in all the different forms of the three tenses – present, past, and future.
“Accept” in present tense
The present tense is a tense that shows an action, activity, or state of being that is happening or taking place now. Here, we will see how “accept” is used in the present tense.
The word “accept” in the present tense takes up various forms such as “accept”, ‘accepts’, ‘is/are/am accepting’, ‘has/have accepted’, and ‘has/have been accepting’.
Example: I request the board to accept this small gift as a token of our love.
Here, the word “accept” is used in the simple present tense as it is denoting a current action to receive the gift which is offered to ‘you’ as a token of the speaker’s love.
When is “accept” used in the present tense?
The word “accept” is used in the present tense when used to show the actions of receiving, believing, agreeing, admitting, approving, allowing, or welcoming that are taking place at the moment in the present.
The tabular column below lists examples which will make us understand how the word “accept” is used in the various forms of the present tense.
| Forms Of Present Tense | Structures | Examples | Explanations |
| 1. Simple Present Tense | a. First/second person singular/ plural Subject + accept + remaining part of the sentence b. Third person singular subject + accepts + remaining part of the sentence c. Third person plural subject + accept+ remaining part of the sentence | a. I/We/You accept your sincere apologies and expect you not to make such mistakes in the future. b. Suha accepts your sincere apologies and expects you not to make such mistakes in the future. c. The board members accept your sincere apologies and expect you not to make such mistakes in the future. | In all these sentences, the word “accept” is utilized in the simple present tense as it is referring to a current action when the subject agrees or approves the sincere apologies of the object ‘you’. |
| 2. Present Continuous Tense | a. Singular first Person subject + am + accepting + remaining part of the sentence b. Plural first person subject + are + accepting+ remaining part of the sentence c. Singular/plural second person + are + accepting + remaining part of the sentence d. Singular third person + is + accepting+ remaining part of the sentence e. Plural third person + are+ accepting+ remaining part of the sentence | a. I am accepting the job offer which the company offered me because of my sincerity. b. We are accepting the job offer which the company offered us because of our sincerity. c. You are accepting the job offer which the company offered you because of your sincerity. d. Vihana is accepting the job offer which the company offered her because of her sincerity. e. The team members are accepting the job offer which the company offered them because of their sincerity. | In all these given sentences, the word “accept” takes the present continuous form of ‘accepting’ in order to denote the current activity of taking up the job offer offered by the company which is continuing to take place now. |
| 3. Present Perfect Tense | a. Singular/plural first person subject + have + accepted+ remaining part of the sentence b. Singular/plural second person subject + have + accepted + remaining part of the sentence c. Singular third person subject + has + accepted + remaining part of the sentence d. Plural third person subject + have + accepted + remaining part of the sentence | a. I/we have accepted this team’s proposal as it is very unique and innovative. b. You have accepted this team’s proposal as it is very unique and innovative. c. The manager has accepted this team’s proposal as it is very unique and innovative. d. The higher officials have accepted this team’s proposal as it is very unique and innovative. | In these sentences, the word “accept” takes the present perfect tense form ‘has/have accepted’ (past participle of “accept”) in order to represent the past action of approving this team’s proposal which has its effect in the present. |
| 4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense | a. Singular/plural first person subject + have + been + accepting + remaining part of the sentence b. Singular/plural second person subject + have + been + accepting + remaining part of the sentence c. Singular third person subject + has + been + accepting + remaining sentence d. Plural third person subject + have + been + accepting + remaining part of the sentence | a. I/We have been accepting their invitations since they are our family friends. b. You have been accepting their invitations since they are your family friends. c. She has been accepting their invitations since they are her family friends. d. They have been accepting their invitations since they are their family friends. | Here, in these sentences, the word “accept” is used in the present perfect continuous form as ‘has/have been accepting’ in order to indicate that the action of willingly taking their invitations has started sometime in the past and is still happening or continuing in the present. |
“Accept” in past tense
Past tense is a tense that denotes an action, activity, or state of being that is already over or completed. Here, we will discuss how the word “accept” is used in the past tense.
The word “accept” in past tense takes up different forms like ‘accepted’, ‘was/were accepting’, ‘had accepted’, ‘had been accepting’.
Example: My grandmother finally accepted me as her granddaughter.
In this sentence, the word “accept” is utilized in its simple past tense form ‘accepted’ to denote that the grandmother has already agreed or approved the speaker as the granddaughter.
When is “accept” used in the past tense?
The word “accept” is used in the past tense when used to denote the actions of receiving, approving, allowing, admitting, believing, agreeing, or welcoming that were already over or completed anytime earlier in the past.
In order to understand how the word “accept” is utilized in the various forms of the past tense, let us go through the examples in the table below.
| Forms Of Past Tense | Structures | Examples | Explanations |
| 1. Simple Past Tense | First/second/third person singular/ plural Subject + accepted + remaining part of the sentence | I/We/You/He/They accepted to be a part of their team for tomorrow’s dance competition. | In this sentence, ‘accepted’, the simple past tense of the word “accept” is used to denote that the speaker/ speakers agreed to be a part of their team. The usage of ‘accepted’ shows that the action is already over in the past. |
| 2. Past Continuous Tense | a. First person singular subject + was+ accepting + remaining sentence b. First person plural subject + were + accepting + remaining sentence c. Second person singular/plural subject + were+ accepting+ remaining sentence d. Third person singular subject + was + accepting+ remaining part of the sentence e. Third person plural subject + were + accepting + remaining part of the sentence | a. I was accepting the bitter realities and was trying to become normal. b. We were accepting the bitter realities and were trying to become normal. c. You were accepting the bitter realities and were trying to become normal. d. Varsha was accepting the bitter realities and was trying to become normal. e. The children were accepting the bitter realities and were trying to become normal. | Here, ‘was/were accepting’, the past continuous form of “accept” is utilized to show the past action of continuing despite the bitter realities. |
| 3. Past Perfect Tense | First/second/third singular/plural subject + had + accepted+ remaining part of the sentence | I/We/You/She/They had accepted Sundar’s invitation before Tia’s invitation. | ‘Had accepted’, the past perfect form of the word “accept” is used to show that the subject had already received and agreed Sundar’s invitation before agreeing and receiving Tia’s invitation. |
| 4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense | First/second/third singular/plural subject + had + been + accepting+ remaining part of the sentence | I/We/You/She/They had been accepting applications till last Sunday. | Here, the word “accept” is used in its past perfect continuous tense form as ‘had been accepting’ to show that the speakers had received applications till last Sunday (time in the past). |
“Accept” in future tense
The tense that denotes an action that is yet to happen or will take place or happen anytime in the future is future tense. Here, we will see the usage of “accept” in future tense.
The word “accept” in future tense takes up several forms such as ‘will/shall accept’, ‘will/shall be accepting’, ‘will/shall have accepted’, and ‘will/shall have been accepting’.
Example: Sudha will accept the job offer tomorrow.
The word “accept” is used in its simple future tense form ‘will accept’ in this sentence to denote that the action of agreeing to the job offer by Sudha is not yet over and will happen tomorrow.
When is “accept” used in the future tense?
The word “accept” is used in the future tense when used to indicate the actions of believing, receiving, allowing, admitting, agreeing, approving, or welcoming that will happen or take place anytime in the future.
For a clear understating, let us peruse the examples in the table that follows.
| Forms of Future Tense | Structures | Examples | Explanations |
| 1. Simple Future Tense | First/second/third singular/plural subject + will + accept+ remaining part of the sentence | I/We/You/She/They will accept his apology if it is sincere | ‘Will accept’, the simple future form of “accept” is used to show that the action of agreeing the apology is yet to happen. |
| 2. Future Continuous Tense | First/second/third singular/plural subject + will + be+ accepting + remaining sentence | I/We/You/She/They will be accepting your idea if it is innovative and fresh. | ‘Will be accepting’, the future continuous form of “accept” is used to show that the action of approving will be taking place in the future. |
| 3. Future Perfect Tense | First/second/third singular/plural subject + will + have+ accepted + remaining sentence | I/We/You/He/They will have accepted his fault in front of everyone by this time tomorrow. | ‘Will have accepted’, the future perfect form of “accept” is used to show that the activity of agreeing the mistake will happen at this time (present) tomorrow (future). |
| 4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense | First/second/third singular/plural subject + will + have+ been + accepting + remaining sentence | I/We/You/He/They will have been accepting the award next month. | ‘Will have been accepting’, the future perfect continuous form of “accept” is used to show that the activity of receiving the award will be happening or taking place next month (future). |
Conclusion
Thus, this article has given us a detailed explanation with which we can understand the usage of the word “accept” in all the forms of the three different tenses – present, past, and future.
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.
You can connect with me through LinkedIn.-