In the sentence “Generic Band releases their new album next month.” does the use of “releaseS” indicate present tense or future tense?

Question

I think it’s present tense because of the active (?) verb ‘releases’, but I’m a little thrown because the action will be in the future. An answer for another question said when the action takes place doesn’t necessarily align with tense (e.g. “She was now drinking water”, I guess) so like, it should be present (???), but honestly I do not trust my own judgment so can someone confirm for me?

Context example: an interview with Generic Band ending with the sentence “Generic Band releases their new album Generic Album next month.” I’ve read this sentence so much I’m not even sure it’s grammatical anymore

In a news caption you could even say "Generic Band to release new album next month". — TimR, Aug 13 '23 at 10:27
This is a very basic question about use of the present tense in English, and probably belongs on English Language Learners. — Stuart F, Aug 13 '23 at 11:53
Does this answer your question? Is it correct to say "We start tomorrow"? Shouldn't it be "We are starting tomorrow"? (present simple vs continuous for future event) Or Why we use the present simple for itineraries? ... — Edwin Ashworth, Aug 14 '23 at 10:26
Which verbs can be used in simple present tense for scheduled future events? ... is also useful. — Edwin Ashworth, Aug 14 '23 at 10:38
As an aside, 'Generic Band releases their new album' makes me grateful for the availability of notional agreement. — Edwin Ashworth, Aug 14 '23 at 11:14
@TimR Note that that's headlinese for "Generic Band is to release...", otherwise it's ungrammatical because there's no verb. — Barmar, Aug 14 '23 at 18:52
@Barmar That's why I said "in a news caption". In the body of a text, you'd expect "... is to release". — TimR, Aug 14 '23 at 19:33

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 13 '23 at 02:16

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"Releases" is a present-tense verb. This is an example of the futurate construction, in which a present-tense verb is used to describe scheduled events occurring at a known time in the future. Similar examples include "The train leaves in fifteen minutes" or "The sun sets at 8pm."

(My source for this is Huddleston & Pullum (2002).)

answered Aug 13 '23 at 02:16

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Please check for obvious candidates for duplication. The use of the present simple tense (and indeed the present continuous construction) for future events has been covered quite a few times. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 14 '23 at 10:26

In the sentence “Generic Band releases their new album next month.” does the use of “releaseS” indicate present tense or future tense?

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