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Grinnell College Writing Lab
Guide to the Use of Verb Tense in Academic Writing
Welcome to this semester's first issue of the Writing
Forum. Please remember that we welcome all comments, suggestions,
articles, questions, and any other type of response.
In this issue we bring to you a handout which we plan to
distribute to students seeking advice on the use of tenses. This
version updates a previous Writing Lab handout on this subject.
We would like to thank all the faculty members who offered
comments and advice to us on this handout, including Peter Connelly,
Ann Ellis, Jared Gardner, Mary Mader, Kent McClelland, Bill Patch,
Gretchen Revie, Don Smith, Ira Strauber, and Bruce Voyles.
We eagerly await your response.
The Writing Lab Staff
Grinnell College Writing Lab Guide to the Use of
Verb Tense in Academic Writing
This guide presents a number of different sets of examples;
read through it and try to find the set that seems most appropriate
to your situation.
- A. First, here are some General Principles.
- Use past tense to narrate past events.
* President Wilson hoped for vindication
in the upcoming election.
- Use present or present progressive to write about things
happening now.
* The war intensifies daily.
* The situation is worsening by the hour.
- Use present tense to state general truths or habitual action.
* Two physical bodies cannot occupy the
same space at the same time.
* We long for final answers.
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