The tense of verbs is an important aspect of writing that can affect the clarity and effectiveness of your work. The use of a proper verb tense reveals a connection between your ideas, and the time relationships among them.
Whether you are writing a dissertation, thesis, report or an article, the verb tense you choose will help ensure that your writing is consistent and clear. The tense you use should reflect the nature of your topic, the degree of generality you intend, and your personal attitude toward it.
Past, present and future tenses are used in scientific articles to express what happened during the course of a study, how you carried out your research, or what you have found. Tense choice is also used to indicate how relevant the information in your paper is at the moment of publication, and what it implies for the future.
Simple present: The simple present tense is used to describe facts that are still true at the time of writing, even if they were originally discovered and published in the past. It is also used to describe general statements based on extensive research, such as the following:
The indoor nighttime light exposure of Chinese citizens influences their sleep and circadian rhythms.
In most cases, however, you should use the simple present tense when you are discussing the results of your studies. The simple present tense will convey to your readers that the data are accurate and that they were gathered from legitimate sources.
It is a good idea to create an outline before starting the actual writing of your article. This will help you to ensure that you have included all the important details and will allow you to avoid spending unnecessary time rewriting your text.
A strong hook is crucial to drawing your reader into reading your article. This can be achieved by asking a question, providing a startling, weird, or interesting fact, and making a connection with your audience.
Consistency, simplicity, and clarity are also key aspects of grammar that can influence the quality of your work. To achieve consistency in your writing, always use the same verb tense for similar ideas, and choose the tense that most clearly conveys what you are trying to say.
To simplify your writing, you should always use the same tense for similar ideas, and you should use the simple past or simple present tense for specific things that occurred in the past. This will prevent confusion for your readers.
The use of the simple past tense is also helpful when you are writing about the methods you used in your study or how you collected and analyzed your data. This will allow you to clearly explain what you did and how your findings are relevant to your readers. It will also give your readers a sense of your personal interest in the subject matter.
