Which tense to use

Last year I learned how to bake bread. Now, I often bake bread for my friends. In this example, the writer expresses a past event learning to bake bread last year and a current, regular event that happens in the present making bread for friends. This change in tense is correct because it allows the writer to express two ideas that take place in different time frames.

As you learned earlier, sometimes you need to change the tense of your writing to explain ideas that occur in different time frames. When you do this, use words that tell the reader that you are changing the time frame. What signal words did the writer use to show the change in tense? In this example, the writer uses the phrase last year to tell about something that happened in the past. In the next sentence, the writer uses the word now to express something that happens in the present.

See the chart below for some common signal word. These words can help your readers know which tense you will be using:. Tense Guideline 1: Keep the same tense if everything happens in the same time frame. See the corrected example: Correct: On my sixteenth birthday, my parents gave me a big party. Example: Many researchers have studied how small business owners can be successful beyond the initial few years in business.

They found common themes among the small business owners. Example: I will conduct semistructured interviews. Use the past tense e. Use the past tense to describe the results e.

Use the present tense to discuss implications of the results and present conclusions e. When explaining what an author or researcher wrote or did, use the past tense. Patterson presented, found, stated, discovered… However, there can be a shift to the present tense if the research findings still hold true: King found that revising a document three times improves the final grade.

Smith discovered that the treatment is effective. In summary, in this section, I presented information on…. I went to China in He completed the employee performance reviews last month.

I have travelled to China. The present perfect focuses more on the result of the action. He has completed the employee performance reviews. He has recently completed the employee performance reviews. Researchers have used this method since it was developed. Present progressive: She is writing right now. Simple past : She wrote last night. Past progressive: She was writing when he called. Simple future : She will write tomorrow. Future progressive: She will be writing when you arrive.

Present perfect : She has written Chapter 1. Present perfect progressive: She has been writing for 2 hours. Past perfect: She had written Chapter 3 before she started Chapter 4. Past perfect progressive: She had been writing for 2 hours before her friends arrived. While both are used to talk about something that will happen in the future, they each have a different meaning.

You can also use both these forms to describe predictions for the future, and neither will change the meaning. The best way to get familiar with the different tenses in English is to practice — so take every chance you get to use each of the tenses, in different situations!

Why not try writing one sentence in each tense, by describing a similar action in the past, present and future? November 24,