Writing Skills

In formal writing, it is important to keep verb tenses consistent so that readers can follow the progress of ideas and arguments easily. It is important to use verb tenses consistently throughout a paper, carefully signaling any necessary shifts in tense.

Examples of Verb Tenses

Simple Present: They walk to the store.
Present Perfect: They have walked to the store.
Simple Past: They walked to the store yesterday.
Past Perfect: They had walked by noon.
Future: They will walk to the store.
Future Perfect: They will have walked to the store by the end of the day.

Sometimes in academic writing, it is necessary to signal to the reader that one event was completed in the past before another past event occurred. Use the perfect form (have + verb) in these instances. 

• INCORRECT: Timothy was ranked at the top of his class and knew he was ready for the workplace.  He felt that number of hours he spent on the shop floor reflects his abilities. 
• CORRECT: Timothy was ranked at the top of his class and knew he was ready for the workplace.  He felt that number of hours he spent on the shop floor reflected his abilities. 

When discussing a specific essay or piece of literature, use the present tense throughout the paper.

• CORRECT: In his essay "On the Topic of Writing", Lang suggests that not all writing is created equal.  He suggests that it is the target audience that dictates the genre, not the contrary.  

Please Note: The writer should choose the specific tense to be used in the essay and then coordinate all other verbs with it to reflect future and past events in relation to the chosen tense.

• INCORRECT:  When Mr. Wilson gave me feedback on my topic selection, I was disheartened.  He suggests that the topic I selected is too broad.  I realized I will never be able to cover it in only three paragraphs!  Evenso, I am going to go ahead.  I prepared a list of sources and I am in the process of writing my outline.
• CORRECT: When Mr. Wilson gave me feedback on my topic selection, I was disheartened.  He suggested that the topic I selected was too broad.  I realized I would never be able to cover it in only three paragraphs!  Evenso, I went ahead and prepared a list of sources, and I am in the process of writing my outline.