TRW Usage of Tenses Review

TRW - Tenses

Technical Report Writing

TENSES

The tense of a verb is determined by when the action takes place.

(1) Present Tense

(2) Past Tense

(3) Future Tense

What are Tenses?

You cannot change the tense in these cases:

(1) Universal truths

(2) Habitual actions

(3) Historical facts

(4) Exclamatory sentences

(5) Proverbs /quotations

Exceptions

▪
V1 –present (swim)

▪
V2 – past (swam)

▪
V3 – past participle (swum)

▪
V4 – present progressive (swimming)

Forms of verbs

▪
It is mostly used to describe facts and habits.

Subject + V1 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman closes the gate.

▪
I run daily.

P.S. All the Verbs are in Simple Present Tense.

Simple Present Tense

Multiple Choice

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

1. She __________ with her parents in Mumbai.

• lived

• lives

• living

• live

Subject + am/is /are + V4 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman is closing the gate.

▪
I am running to your house at the moment.

Present Progressive/Continuous Tense

It is used for an ongoing (i.e. continuous) action in the present

Multiple Choice

While I (drive) to work yesterday, I (see) an accident.

• was driving, saw

• was driving, seen

• drove, saw

• drove, was seeing

▪
It is used for actions began in the past. (Often, the actions continue into the present.)

Subject + has/ have + V3 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman has closed the gate just now.

▪
I have run for 5 miles so far.

P.S. just, now, usually, recently, etc.

Present Perfect Tense

Multiple Choice

What's the target language of this lesson aim?

"to help students write a set of instructions for a process"

• joining phrases such as FIRST OF ALL, NEXT, and AT THE END

• verb endings /t/, /d/, /id/

• weak forms in connected speech for WOULD/HAVE/HAD

• question tags

▪
It is used for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present, or a

continuous activity that began in past but has now finished (usually very recently).

Subject + has/have+ V4 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman has been closing the gate at 10pm every night.

▪
I have been runningfor hours.

Present Perfect Progressive Tenses

Multiple Choice

Should the students know what the lesson is going to be about?

• yes

• no

• it doesn't matter

▪
It is used to describe a completed activity that happened in the past.

Subject + V2 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman closed the gate.

▪
I ran to the shops.

Simple Past Tense

Multiple Choice

Share __________with students near the beginning of the lesson and help students to know what they are aiming for.

• motivational quotes.

• story

• days and dates

• learning objectives

Multiple Choice

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

3. The weather (be) ____________ strangely fine this morning when I opened the windows.

• is

• am

• was

• should

▪
It is used to describe an ongoing activity in the past.
Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.

Subject + was/ were +V4 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman was closing the gate.

▪
I was running to the shops when I saw Bruno.

Past Progressive/Continuous Tense

Multiple Choice

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

9. The phone rang while I ________________ dinner.

• had

• was having

• am having

• will have

Multiple Choice

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

5. Sara _____________ (run) because she was late for her classes.

• ran

• had run

• will run

• was running

▪
It is used to emphasize that an action was completed before
another took place.

▪
Two actions are mandatory to use this tense.

Subject + had + V3 form + object | V2 form

Example:

▪
The watchman had closed the gate before I reached.

▪
I had run to the shops, but they closed.

Past Perfect Tense

Multiple Choice

Yuvraj was eating a cake yesterday.

• Future tense

• Present Tense

• Past tense

▪
It is used to show that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Subject + had + been + V4 form + object | V2 form

Example:

▪
The watchman had been closing the gate before I reached home.

▪
I had been running to the shops, but I have now started walking.

Past Perfect Progressive Tense

Multiple Choice

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

6. Amisha __________ exited the room.

• Shall

• Will be

• Shall have

• Will have

▪
It is used for an action that will occur in the future.

Subject + will/shall + V1form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman will/shall close the gate.

▪
I will run to the shops tomorrow.

Simple Future Tense

▪
It is used for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.

Subject + will/shall + be + V4 form + object

Example:

▪
The watchman will/shall be closing the gate by 10pm.

▪
I will be running to the shops every day after today.

Future Progressive/Continuous Tense

Based on the use cases discussed in previous slides, we use different tenses in Report Writing.
A report has different parts - Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Analysis, Discussion, Conclusion

Tenses in Technical Writing - Abstract

The introduction section is where we discuss the background of the study. i.e. Theories, Past research etc.
Unless debunked Theories are perceived to be Universally true - therefore we use Present Simple tense to refer to Theory.
Past research can be referred to using Past Simple tense

Tenses in Technical Writing - Introduction

Facts or Universally true statements - Present Simple tense

Tenses in Technical Writing - Introduction

Methodology in a report includes a series of steps taken to complete the research.
These steps could be -
steps in an experiment
steps to develop a prototype or an MVP
steps of data collection and analysis.

Tenses in Technical Writing - Methodology