Tenses: Conclusions

The body of academic writing features three prominent tenses:

• Past Simple
• Present Perfect
• Future Tense/Modals

This is because the main 'moves' and 'steps' that are regularly found in conclusions (see Conclusions) align with these tenses. Please see the table below:

Past Simple

• Summarising Work Carried Out & Methodologies Used

Example: "In this study, the stress concentration and dislocation density near the crack tip in all 14 TEM specimens was investigated applying the previously described method of measuring plastic deformation near the crack tip via TKD (Chapter 4.2.5). For this purpose, the size and extent of the plastic zone at the crack tip was measured for all samples."

Present Perfect

• Highlighting Key Findings/Contributions

Example: "This study has demonstrated that creative individualism informs a modern understanding of human nature. These key observations have further provided a lens with which to scrutinise the notion of internal impediments." 

Future Tense/Modals

• Recommendations for Future Studies

Example: "Perhaps, in this respect, future philosophical studies of language should employ a more composite approach when dealing with highly regional discourse forms, such as biblical discourse. Certainly, fashioning a hybrid hermeneutical category of this kind may help clarify the distinction between fictional and historical acts."

© AWH 2025