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In a [recent question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1363/if-v-
isnt-a-gerund-then-what-is-it/1367#1367) I asked, this example sentence was
offered:

> 映画を見る。 (I **will** watch a movie.)

What struck me about this was that the translated version was the future
tense.

However, I always thought the plain form of a verb was tense-less.

> 映画を見る。 I watch a movie.

When I think about it, though, if the plain form is without tense (or at least
not future tense), then it wouldn't really be used much except in answer to a
question:

> Q: 退屈しているときには、通常に何をしている？ (What do you usually do when you're bored?)
>
> A: 映画を見る。(I watch a movie.)

Maybe I just have it all wrong.

Is the plain form usually assumed to be future tense? Or at least an
expression of intent?
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verbs tense
Would the plain form of a verb usually be translated as future tense?
I imagine most grammar texts break Japanese tenses into past and non-past. So
the plain form can be used to describe something you will do (once) in the
future as well as something you do on a regular basis or something that tends
to happen. Context tells you which is meant:

> 明日【あした】は映画【えいが】を **見【み】る** 。 Tomorrow I will watch a movie.
>
> 毎週【まいしゅう】金曜日【きんようび】に映画【えいが】を **見【み】る** 。 Every Friday I watch a movie.
>
> 今夜【こんや】はレストランで夕食【ゆうしょく】を **食【た】べる** 。 Tonight I will have dinner at a
> restaurant.
>
> 夕食【ゆうしょく】をいつもレストランで **食【た】べる** 。 I always have dinner at a restaurant.

In English the auxiliary "will" marks the future tense, but Japanese doesn't
discriminate between the two usages shown above, so the same plain form 見【み】る
and 食【た】べる can satisfy both cases.

Your Q&A example is an instance where the non-past (plain) form of the verb
shows a habitual action (I'm going to edit it a bit):

> Q: 退屈【たいくつ】なときは、何【なに】を **する** ？ What do you do when you're bored?
>
> A: 普段【ふだん】は映画【えいが】を見【み】たり、漫画【まんが】を読【よ】んだり **する** 。 Usually I watch movies or
> read manga.

So when you have a verb all by its lonesome without anything to tell you which
of the two cases it fits into (like 映画【えいが】を見【み】る), you kind of have to guess.
I usually fall back on translating it into the English future tense unless I
have reason to believe it's better left as English present.
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It can go either way. I think it struck you as odd because that example lacks
any context.

> 映画学のクラスでは何をする？What do you do in film class?  
>  映画を見る。Watch movies.
>
> 授業が終わったら何をするの？What are you going to do after class?  
>  映画を見る。[I will] Watch movies.

In Japanese they call it 辞書形 (dictionary form), and in English it's the
[imperfective](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_verb_conjugations_and_adjective_declensions&oldid=432507568#Imperfective).
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This form is called in many names: the base form, the dictionary form, the
imperfect form (which is a rather inaccurate term), and the non-past form. Its
Japanese name (which you'll commonly find used on Japanese.SE.com) is
[終止形]{しゅうしけい}, but that term refers to the shape of this form (i.e. how it
conjugates) and not to its meaning.

The broadest (and probably only sufficient) definition of this form, is that
it is unmarked for time and completion of the action. In essence, it's the
most generic form, that tells us very little - if you want more information,
you'd have to use other forms or glean it by looking at adverbs and judging
from the context.

The base form does have some common uses:

  1. **Generic present:** This is not truly "present" in the meaning that the event is ongoing now (for that meaning you'd have to use the present progressive tense: ～ている), but it rather refers to things that happen in general. This is very similar to the English present simple: When you say "I read books" you're definitely not saying that you're engaged **right now** in the reading of multiple books (at once?). You're just saying that's something that happens in general: it happened in the past, and it will probably happen again in the future. Please note, though, that there are many specific differences between the English simple tense and this: for instance, in English you generally say "I live in New York", but in Japanese you'd say: 

> 東京に住んでいる.

  2. **Unmarked relative present:** It's also very common to skip using the longer present progressive tense when it appears in relative clauses and use the base form directly. That's why the base form 住む (which is very rare in the main sentence), is mostly found in relative clauses.

  3. In some narrative styles, especially prose, the base form can be used to indicate a vivid experience, even if it happened in the past. This is very much like the "so-and-so" present in English in colloquial narratives like "So I open the door and then he comes in and starts yelling at me [...]". The only difference is that these narratives are considered unsophisticated or even "incorrect grammar" in English (and in many other Western languages that have them), while in Japanese this is perfectly excellent prose, and you'll find in it in practically any novel, pulp or masterpiece. Strangely enough, some of the Japanese people I've asked never noticed that this is actually the so-called "present tense" used in novels, and this very important function is also neglected in most textbooks.

  4. **Future events:** Generally, Japanese doesn't grammatically distinguish events that have not yet taken place (i.e. future events) from events that have already been started. It only distinguishes events that are ongoing right now (the present progressive tense) and events that are already completed (the various past and perfect tenses, especially the た tense), but it doesn't distinguish future events (as long as they are quite certain) from events that happen in general or are otherwise unmarked for time.

The only way to distinguish the future from the general present in Japanese is
to look at contextual cues and adverbs that point to time. Contextual cues are
easy - if you think the speaker is talking about the future based on what he
previously said, then he probably is, case closed. Time adverbs are also very
easy in some cases: if you hear the adverb 明日 ("tomorrow") then the sentence
is about tomorrow, case closed. You should also pay attention to other adverbs
such as また or かならず, that most of the times firmly set the sentence in the
future.

Completely out of context, `映画を見る` just means "seeing a film". Yeah, it
doesn't have any time at all, like the English gerund in this case. Add
context or more adverbs and complements to the sentence, and things get
clearer:

>   * その映画は明日見るよ。 _I'll see that film **tomorrow**._
>   * 映画を見るのは楽しいですね。 _Seeing films is fun, isn't it?_
>   * 毎週、映画館に行って映画を見る。 _ **Every week** , I go to the cinema and see a film._
>
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