Difference Between Send and Sent

Send vs Sent

Verbs are words that express or convey action or the state of being. They are usually modified to evoke the tense, voice, mood, and aspect as well as agreement with the gender, person, and number of the subject.

The tense is used to determine whether the action is done before, after, or right at the very moment that it is made or stated. There are three basic tenses in the English language; the present, past, and future tenses. Each of these tenses has a perfect form, a progressive form, and a perfect progressive form. Take the case of the verb “send,” for example. The verb “send” is defined as “to cause to go or to be taken somewhere.” It is synonymous with the words: dispatch, convey, transmit, transport, yield, deliver, direct, forward, mail, or remit.

The word “send” comes from the old English word “sendan” which means “send, throw,” or “send forth.” It came from the Proto-Germanic word “sandijanan” which means “go” or “journey.” It also came from the Proto Germanic word “sandaz” meaning “that which is sent.”

The simple present tense of the word is “send.” It expresses an action that is unchanging, reoccurring, and existing only at the moment. An example is the sentence: “Send my love and kisses to your parents and siblings.” Its progressive tense and future progressive tense is “sending.” The progressive tense indicates that the action is ongoing, and the future progressive tense indicates that the action is ongoing but is to take place in the future.

Examples are: “I am sending my old books to him. I will be sending my old clothes to our church to be given to the victims of the fire.”

The past tense of the word “send” is “sent.” It is also its past simple tense and past participle tense as well as its past progressive tense and past perfect progressive tense. The past tense “sent” indicates an action that has already taken place in the past.

While most verbs form their past tense by adding “ed,” the verb “send” is an irregular verb and has a special past tense form wherein instead of adding “ed,” it changes its spelling. An example is this sentence: “I sent the letter yesterday.”

More examples:
“Please send the money now.” (Present)
“I have been sending the money without fail.” (Perfect Progressive)
“I already sent the money.” (Past)
“I have sent the money last night.” (Past Progressive)

Summary:

1.The word “send” is a verb which means “to cause to go or to be taken somewhere” while the word “sent” is a conjugation of the verb “send.”
2.The word “send” is the present perfect tense of the verb while the word “sent” is the past tense and past participle tense of the verb.
3.Both have progressive forms with the word “send” being used in its present form and the word “sent” in its past form.
4.“Send” is an irregular verb; that’s why instead of adding “ed” to form its past tense, it changes its spelling to form the word “sent.”

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