T1 topic
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:51 am
Please help me to determine in what tense to write this essay. In present, future or past?
Hi Shokir,
In this question you can use the date of the data you are currently discussing to change your tense. There is no fixed tense, it changes depending on the information you are discussing. If you are talking about data from 2040 and then compare it to data from 1940, you would for example use the past tense when discussing those data points.
Here are some examples from conversation:
to talk about the present:
He works at McDonald’s. He has worked there for three months now.
He is working at McDonald’s. He has been working there for three months now.
London is the capital of Britain.
to talk about the future:
The next train leaves this evening at 1700 hours.
I’ll phone you when I get home.
He’s meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
I’ll come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.
I hope this is of use to you. There is more information on tenses on the British Council's website - https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org ... sent-tense
Jordan