Tense Use

In academic writing, the most frequent tenses used are past simple and present simple. Present perfect and future are less frequent, but also perform key functions at specific points in your writing. We can therefore say that the tenses that are most important to academic writing are: past simple, present perfect, present simple and future tense.

Below, you can quickly review the grammar associated with these four main tenses.

 

Tense & Genre 

As alluded to above, specific tenses tend to be more prevalent in different parts of your writing. You can explore this relationship between tense and genre below:

 

 

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Tense Summary: Academic Usage

Tense Summary: Academic Usage

A quick guide to tense use in academic writing. Learn when to use past, present, present perfect, and future tenses, with examples of active and passive forms across contexts.

Tenses: Introductions

Tenses: Introductions

Learn how to use tenses in academic introductions. See how Present Simple and Present Perfect shape background, aims, advances, and research gaps, with examples from Oxford writing.

Tenses: Body

Tenses: Body

Learn which tenses to use in the body of your writing. Present Simple supports arguments and generalisations, while Past Simple describes findings and methods, with examples.

Tenses: Conclusions

Tenses: Conclusions

Learn which tenses to use in conclusions. Past Simple summarises methods, Present Perfect highlights findings, and Future/Modals suggest further research, with model examples.