The verbal group: tenses

part of her evidence:
Typically, in early research, two films....are shown. One film also shows distinctive and novel
aggressive behaviours while the other does not, and in the post-­‐film sessions the different
children who viewed the films are compared for their aggressive behaviours.

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Basic English Grammar Module: Unit 2B. Independent Learning Resources
© Learning Centre University of Sydney. This Unit may be copied for individual student use.
18
The writer uses the present tense again in
paragraph 8
when he/she criticises the
evidence:
In these studies, no real harm comes to person or property and so they do not show

whether imitation of an aggressor who does do damage or is reprimanded...
In the Conclusion the simple present tense is used when the writer confirms and
qualifies the thesis:
Therefore the claim that 'modern children spend more hours in front of television than they
spend at school' is indeed cause for alarm. For the young pre-­‐schooler, the child with a high
base level of aggression and the unsupervised 'latch-­‐key' child, the implications of television
are quite serious
.
The simple present tense will probably be your main tense choice when writing essays.
There will, however, be variations on this depending on the field you are working in. For
example, in the field of history where you have to refer to many events that have
occurred in the past, you would expect that there would be more use of the simple past
tense. You would be presenting your argument in the present but would constantly be
referring to past time for evidence to support that argument.
The following paragraph from a history essay will illustrate this:
In 1899, G. Arnold returned to Sydney from England to employment in the History
Department of the University of Sydney. While in England he had been carefully following the
South African issues, involving the Utilanders and the Boers, from British and South African
capitalist controlled newspapers (17). However, war is a controversial issue and
interpretation of events by an individual is questionable due to the lack of accessibility to
confidential documents.
Notice the shift to simple present tense when the writer says "However, war is..." when
he/she wants to make a generalisation concerning war that is part of the argument that
is being presented.
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Exercise 6
Read the short texts below and then answer the questions.
As discussed in the previous chapters, the boarding houses in Waverley Municipality have the
important function of providing relatively low rent accommodation. The Council
is
attempting
to retain B/LH's in the area. The Council offers some incentives to the proprietors of the
boarding houses.
1.
Why does the writer switch from simple present to present continuous in
sentence 2 above?
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