Correctly formed tense choice

 

 

There are three tenses, past present and future. Tenses portray the sequence of events; they give the text chronological order and aid narrative progression. An awareness of which tense to use at the correct time is essential to a good academic writing style.

 

The types of tenses are as follows:

– The present tense. This is when the action is taking place. The present tense is usually appropriate in an essay.
e.g. ‘Ruqaiya argues.’‘
 

– The past tense. This is when the action has taken place in the past. This tense is most appropriate when discussing previous research.
e.g. ‘Ruqaiya argued.’
 

– The future tense. This is when the action will take place in the future.
e.g. ‘Ruqaiya will conduct research’

- The conditional tense. This is when the action is not definite but may take place. It is most often used in introduction and conclusion sections.
e.g. ‘Ruqaiya may argue.’