past tense in essay

Verb Tenses

What this handout is about.

The present simple, past simple, and present perfect verb tenses account for approximately 80% of verb tense use in academic writing. This handout will help you understand how to use these three verb tenses in your own academic writing.

Click here for a color-coded illustration of changing verb tenses in academic writing.

Present simple tense

The present simple tense is used:

In your introduction, the present simple tense describes what we already know about the topic. In the conclusion, it says what we now know about the topic and what further research is still needed.

“The data suggest…” “The research shows…”

“The dinoflagellate’s TFVCs require an unidentified substance in fresh fish excreta” (Penrose and Katz, 330).

“There is evidence that…”

“So I’m walking through the park yesterday, and I hear all of this loud music and yelling. Turns out, there’s a free concert!” “Shakespeare captures human nature so accurately.”

Past simple tense

Past simple tense is used for two main functions in most academic fields.

“…customers obviously want to be treated at least as well on fishing vessels as they are by other recreation businesses. [General claim using simple present] De Young (1987) found the quality of service to be more important than catching fish in attracting repeat customers. [Specific claim from a previous study using simple past] (Marine Science)

We conducted a secondary data analysis… (Public Health) Descriptional statistical tests and t-student test were used for statistical analysis. (Medicine) The control group of students took the course previously… (Education)

Present perfect tense

The present perfect acts as a “bridge” tense by connecting some past event or state to the present moment. It implies that whatever is being referred to in the past is still true and relevant today.

“There have been several investigations into…” “Educators have always been interested in student learning.”

Some studies have shown that girls have significantly higher fears than boys after trauma (Pfefferbaum et al., 1999; Pine &; Cohen, 2002; Shaw, 2003). Other studies have found no gender differences (Rahav and Ronen, 1994). (Psychology)

Special notes

Can i change tenses.

Yes. English is a language that uses many verb tenses at the same time. The key is choosing the verb tense that is appropriate for what you’re trying to convey.

What’s the difference between present simple and past simple for reporting research results?

• Past simple limits your claims to the results of your own study. E.g., “Our study found that teenagers were moody.” (In this study, teenagers were moody.)
• Present simple elevates your claim to a generalization. E.g., “Our study found that teenagers are moody.” (Teenagers are always moody.)

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Biber, Douglas. 1999. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English . New York: Longman.

Hawes, Thomas, and Sarah Thomas. 1997. “Tense Choices in Citations.” Research into the Teaching of English 31 (3): 393-414.

Hinkel, Eli. 2004. Teaching Academic ESL Writing: Practical Techniques in Vocabulary and Grammar . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Penrose, Ann, and Steven Katz. 2004. Writing in the Sciences: Exploring the Conventions of Scientific Discourse , 2nd ed. New York: Longman.

Swales, John, and Christine B. Feak. 2004. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills , 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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• Knowledge Base
• Verb Tenses in Academic Writing | Rules, Differences & Examples

Verb Tenses in Academic Writing | Rules, Differences & Examples

Published on 20 October 2022 by Shane Bryson . Revised on 11 September 2023.

Tense communicates an event’s location in time. The different tenses are identified by their associated verb forms. There are three main verb tenses: past ,  present , and  future .

In English, each of these tenses can take four main aspects:  simple ,  perfect ,  continuous  (also known as  progressive ), and  perfect continuous . The perfect aspect is formed using the verb  to have , while the continuous aspect is formed using the verb  to be .

In academic writing , the most commonly used tenses are the  present simple , the  past simple , and the  present perfect .

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Table of contents

Tenses and their functions, when to use the present simple, when to use the past simple, when to use the present perfect, when to use other tenses.

The table below gives an overview of some of the basic functions of tenses and aspects. Tenses locate an event in time, while aspects communicate durations and relationships between events that happen at different times.

It can be difficult to pick the right verb tenses and use them consistently. If you struggle with verb tenses in your thesis or dissertation , you could consider using a thesis proofreading service .

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

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The present simple is the most commonly used tense in academic writing, so if in doubt, this should be your default choice of tense. There are two main situations where you always need to use the present tense.

Describing facts, generalisations, and explanations

Facts that are always true do not need to be located in a specific time, so they are stated in the present simple. You might state these types of facts when giving background information in your introduction .

• The Eiffel tower  is in Paris.
• Light  travels faster than sound.

Similarly, theories and generalisations based on facts are expressed in the present simple.

• Average income differs by race and gender.
• Older people express less concern about the environment than younger people.

Explanations of terms, theories, and ideas should also be written in the present simple.

• Photosynthesis  refers to  the process by which plants  convert sunlight into chemical energy.
• According to Piketty (2013), inequality grows over time in capitalist economies.

Describing the content of a text

Things that happen within the space of a text should be treated similarly to facts and generalisations.

This applies to fictional narratives in books, films, plays, etc. Use the present simple to describe the events or actions that are your main focus; other tenses can be used to mark different times within the text itself.

• In the first novel, Harry learns he is a wizard and travels  to Hogwarts for the first time, finally escaping the constraints of the family that raised him.

The events in the first part of the sentence are the writer’s main focus, so they are described in the present tense. The second part uses the past tense to add extra information about something that happened prior to those events within the book.

When discussing and analyzing nonfiction, similarly, use the present simple to describe what the author does within the pages of the text ( argues , explains , demonstrates , etc).

• In The History of Sexuality , Foucault asserts that sexual identity is a modern invention.
• Paglia (1993) critiques Foucault’s theory.

This rule also applies when you are describing what you do in your own text. When summarising the research in your abstract , describing your objectives, or giving an overview of the  dissertation structure in your introduction, the present simple is the best choice of tense.

• This research  aims to synthesise the two theories.
• Chapter 3 explains  the methodology and discusses ethical issues.
• The paper  concludes with recommendations for further research.

The past simple should be used to describe completed actions and events, including steps in the research process and historical background information.

Reporting research steps

Whether you are referring to your own research or someone else’s, use the past simple to report specific steps in the research process that have been completed.

• Olden (2017) recruited 17 participants for the study.
• We transcribed and coded the interviews before analyzing the results.

The past simple is also the most appropriate choice for reporting the results of your research.

• All of the focus group participants agreed  that the new version  was an improvement.
• We  found a positive correlation between the variables, but it  was not as strong as we  hypothesised .

Describing historical events

Background information about events that took place in the past should also be described in the past simple tense.

• James Joyce  pioneered the modernist use of stream of consciousness.
• Donald Trump’s election in 2016  contradicted the predictions of commentators.

The present perfect is used mainly to describe past research that took place over an unspecified time period. You can also use it to create a connection between the findings of past research and your own work.

Summarising previous work

When summarising a whole body of research or describing the history of an ongoing debate, use the present perfect.

• Many researchers  have investigated the effects of poverty on health.
• Studies  have shown a link between cancer and red meat consumption.
• Identity politics has been a topic of heated debate since the 1960s.
• The problem of free will  has vexed philosophers for centuries.

Similarly, when mentioning research that took place over an unspecified time period in the past (as opposed to a specific step or outcome of that research), use the present perfect instead of the past tense.

• Green et al.  have conducted extensive research on the ecological effects of wolf reintroduction.

Emphasising the present relevance of previous work

When describing the outcomes of past research with verbs like fi nd ,  discover or demonstrate , you can use either the past simple or the present perfect.

The present perfect is a good choice to emphasise the continuing relevance of a piece of research and its consequences for your own work. It implies that the current research will build on, follow from, or respond to what previous researchers have done.

• Smith (2015) has found that younger drivers are involved in more traffic accidents than older drivers, but more research is required to make effective policy recommendations.
• As Monbiot (2013)  has shown , ecological change is closely linked to social and political processes.

Note, however, that the facts and generalisations that emerge from past research are reported in the present simple.

While the above are the most commonly used tenses in academic writing, there are many cases where you’ll use other tenses to make distinctions between times.

Future simple

The future simple is used for making predictions or stating intentions. You can use it in a research proposal  to describe what you intend to do.

It is also sometimes used for making predictions and stating hypotheses . Take care, though, to avoid making statements about the future that imply a high level of certainty. It’s often a better choice to use other verbs like  expect ,  predict,  and  assume to make more cautious statements.

• There  will be a strong positive correlation.
• We  expect  to find a strong positive correlation.
• H1  predicts a strong positive correlation.

Similarly, when discussing the future implications of your research, rather than making statements with will,  try to use other verbs or modal verbs that imply possibility ( can ,  could ,  may ,  might ).

• These findings  will influence  future approaches to the topic.
• These findings  could influence future approaches to the topic.

Present, past, and future continuous

The continuous aspect is not commonly used in academic writing. It tends to convey an informal tone, and in most cases, the present simple or present perfect is a better choice.

• Some scholars are suggesting that mainstream economic paradigms are no longer adequate.
• Some scholars suggest   that mainstream economic paradigms are no longer adequate.
• Some scholars have suggested   that mainstream economic paradigms are no longer adequate.

However, in certain types of academic writing, such as literary and historical studies, the continuous aspect might be used in narrative descriptions or accounts of past events. It is often useful for positioning events in relation to one another.

• While Harry is traveling to Hogwarts for the first time, he meets many of the characters who will become central to the narrative.
• The country was still recovering from the recession when Donald Trump was elected.

Past perfect

Similarly, the past perfect is not commonly used, except in disciplines that require making fine distinctions between different points in the past or different points in a narrative’s plot.

Sources for this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Bryson, S. (2023, September 11). Verb Tenses in Academic Writing | Rules, Differences & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 14 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/english-language/verb-tenses/

Aarts, B. (2011).  Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015).  Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage  (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016).  Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

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Shane Bryson

Shane finished his master's degree in English literature in 2013 and has been working as a writing tutor and editor since 2009. He began proofreading and editing essays with Scribbr in early summer, 2014.

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What Is The Past Tense?

• I jumped in the lake.
• I was happy.

Table of Contents

Video Lesson

The four past tenses explained, simple past tense, examples of the simple past tense, past progressive tense, examples of the past progressive tense, past perfect tense, examples of the past perfect tense, past perfect progressive tense, examples of the past perfect progressive tense, interactive verb conjugation tables.

Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos .

More about the Four Past Tenses

• I played when I was younger.
• I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. (Italian sculptor Michelangelo)
• Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing. (Actor and comedian Robert Benchley)
• Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do . (French writer Voltaire)
• I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one. So I got a cake. (Comedian Mitch Hedberg)
• I have never played a hero before so I jumped at the chance. (Actor Adrian Edmondson)
• My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.

• I was playing for an hour.
• I was falling asleep when the phone rang.
• We were preparing a picnic, and then it started to rain.
• I feel like I sort of missed the eighties. At the time, we didn't know we were having fun, which is probably the way it always is. (Novelist Tama Janowitz)
• She was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers, and a bartender. (Comedian Rodney Dangerfield)
• I told my therapist I was having nightmares about nuclear explosions. He said don't worry it's not the end of the world. (Comedian Jay London)
• I have an idea that the phrase 'weaker sex' was coined by some woman to disarm the man she was preparing to overwhelm. (Poet Ogden Nash)
• I was having trouble making ends meet, and my beginnings weren't meeting either. (Author Allan Sherman)

• I had played already.
• I had crossed the line. I was free, but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. (Political activist Harriet Tubman)
• I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different. (Poet T S Eliot)
• There are so many things that we wish we had done yesterday, so few that we feel like doing today. (Journalist Mignon McLaughlin)
• I phoned my dad to tell him I had stopped smoking. He called me a quitter.
• When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.
• If we had had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes. (Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky)
• What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I' d realized it sooner. (Author Sidonie Gabrielle Colette)
• I had always seen myself as a star; I wanted to be a galaxy. (Dancer Twyla Tharp)

• I had been playing since I was ten.
• I had been weeding my garden for weeks, but I just surrendered to the weeds in the end.
• The jury had been considering its verdict for several hours when the judge effectively ordered them to find Jones guilty.
• I was coming home from kindergarten. Well, they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. (Comedian Ellen DeGeneres)
• I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it. (Author Thomas Perry)
• I thought that I was learning how to live, but I had been learning how to die. (Polymath Leonardo da Vinci)
• Even though I had been boxing for three years, I had no idea that I could beat somebody in the ring.
• Many people had been asking me to write an autobiography. I thought I'd better tell my story before other people told it for me. (Comedian Michael Palin)
• It was funny to read a script that was so similar to what had been going on in my life. (Actress Piper Perabo)
• I' d been shouting and shouting and no one wanted to hear me. (Singer Brenda Fassie)

Top 10 Regular Verbs

Top 10 Irregular Verbs

All 4 Past Tenses

All 4 Present Tenses

All 4 Future Tenses

This page was written by Craig Shrives .

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• Writing Tips

Common Issues with Tenses

4-minute read

• 6th June 2022

Using verbs correctly is one of the trickiest parts of writing . Anyone can make mistakes with verb tenses, but it’s especially easy for those who aren’t native English speakers. In this post, we’ll explain the nine main tenses and highlight the most common mistakes writers make when using them. So, read on if you want to make verb tense mistakes a thing of the past!

What Are the Main Tenses in English?

Every action happens in the past, present, or future. Each of these time frames is further divided into the simple , continuous, or perfect form. Here’s an example of each:

●  Simple past – things that happened before now:

I wrote an essay last week.

●  Past continuous – an ongoing action in the past:

He was writing a poem yesterday morning.

●  Past perfect – an action that ended before a point in the past:

By lunchtime, he had written six lines.

●  Simple present – a habitual action:

She writes at her desk by the window.

The simple present is also used to describe actions happening at this moment:

I want a desk like that.

●  Present continuous – an ongoing action happening right now:

I am writing a future bestseller!

●  Present perfect – an action that began in the past and is still happening now, or one that happened at an unspecified time:

He has written stories since he was a child.

I have written 1000 birthday cards.

●  Simple future – things that’ll happen and then stop happening:

I will read the first chapter of the book tomorrow.

●  Future continuous – things that’ll begin in the future and continue for some time:

I will be writing a book report.

●  Future perfect – an action that’ll end at some point in the future:

I will have written it by the end of the week.

With so many tenses to choose from, it’s no wonder people make mistakes. Don’t worry, though, because for most academic writing, you don’t need to use all of them. Essays and assignments are nearly always written in the simple present tense, and if you’re describing your own research methodology (e.g., an experiment or survey), you would use the simple past tense.

What Are the Most Common Verb Tense Errors?

Mistakes with verb tenses usually fall into one of three categories:

• Changing from one tense to another.
• Overusing continuous tenses.
• Confusion with irregular verbs.

Use tenses consistently

Your readers will get confused if you switch tenses unexpectedly:

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The car drove into the tunnel, and it comes out the other end. ✘

The car drove into the tunnel, and it came out the other end. ✔

The car drives into the tunnel, and it comes out the other end. ✔

This doesn’t mean changing tense mid-sentence is always wrong. But make sure you’re saying what you intend to say!

I practiced using different tenses, and now I understand them better. ✔

Limit your use of continuous tenses

Your writing can easily become quite clunky if you use a lot of continuous verb forms:

It was pouring rain while we were camping, and the children were complaining because their blankets were getting wet.

It poured rain while we were camping, and the children complained because their blankets got wet.

The first sentence contains four present participles (i.e., verb forms that end in ing ), which makes it quite a chore to read and rather repetitive. In the second version, we’ve replaced three of them with the simple past tense. This makes the writing more concise and easier to read.

Watch out for irregular verbs

We form the simple past tense and the past participle of most verbs by simply adding ed to the base verb (e.g., walk – walked; open – opened ). However, there are many verbs that don’t obey such rules, and we call these irregular verbs . Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to learn how to conjugate irregular verbs because they don’t follow an obvious pattern, as these examples show:

I buyed bought a gigantic jar of honey.

It costed cost $10.

I hided hid it in the back of the cupboard.

I soon forgetted forgot all about it.

As you read English texts and listen to people speaking in conversation, you’ll recognize more irregular verbs and become familiar with how they work.

Proofreading for Perfect Grammar

We hope you now feel confident about using different tenses in your writing. If you’d like an expert to check your work for incorrect verbs and any other mistakes in grammar, spelling, or punctuation, our proofreaders are here to help. Send us a free trial document to find out more.

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Past, Present, and Future Tense in Essays: How to Switch

Past, Present, and the Future Tenses in Your Essay

Choosing the correct grammatical tense for your essay can be a challenge. You have to decide whether to use past, present, or future tense. A wrong choice impacts your essay negatively. It will lack clarity and flow. This is not a situation that you ought to find yourself in.

Most students struggle with choosing the right tense. For some, it is due to the lack of guidance on using grammatical tenses. Others are careless with their writing. The result is a poorly written essay that a reader cannot understand. However, it is a problem that you can deal with once and for all.

Reading the instructions will enlighten you on which tense to use in writing your essay. Your tutor can also guide you on how to use grammatical tenses. You get the guidelines of when to use a particular tense. The help prevents you from choosing the wrong tense.

The type of your essay also reveals which tenses you ought to use. All essays are not the same. They have some distinct rules that create a significant difference. You must be aware of those rules and follow them to the latter. For instance, using the right tense is something you must take seriously. 

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Should an Essay be in Present, Past, or Future Tense?

Many students might find it challenging to choose the right tense. Some are yet to learn by heart the rules governing the use of tenses. They end up making the wrong choice.

Ultimately, the impact of their essay score is negative. Fortunately, it is a problem you can work on. 

Every essay needs to be clear and engaging, where the reader needs an easier time reading it. But, that is not the case with all students. Some find themselves using the wrong tenses.

Instead of using the present tense, they write essays in the past tense. But perhaps they do not know when to use a present, past, or future tense.

You can use present, past, and future tense in your essay. But there is a catch. Before you write your essay, you must know which tense fits it. You can either get guidance from your tutor or do your research. Above all, ensure the tense you use is consistent and clear.

Most essay writers use the present tense. It is simple and direct to the point. You can write short sentences that are easier to read and understand. The reader will use little time to read your essay. It will not be tiring to read it since the message is clear.

The present tense is common in academic writing. It allows you to write about current states of events more candidly. By using the present tense, you can easily describe theories. It will be easier to explain an event that is happening now. Generally, the present tense is ideal for writing essays.

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Instances to Use Present Tense in an Essay

You do not have to write every essay in the present tense. There are instances under which it becomes a must. At that juncture, you have to play ball.

You must shun the past and future tenses to make your essay consistent. Deviating from the present tense might distort your sentence structure thereby complicating your essay.

The present tense is ideal for creating a sense of immediacy. The reader gets to experience every action as it unfolds. It is easier to grasp the information the writer is passing across. The clarity in the essay engages the reader .

This is one of the reasons why writing in the present tense is common.

Writing an essay in the present tense is much easier. You can write your essay within the shortest time possible, and meeting deadlines will not be an issue. Your essay will be simple and clear to the point, without any sophistication.

Use present tense in an essay where you refer to existing facts. The present tense shows that the fact is indeed true. It becomes easier for the reader to believe in what you are writing. Also, it describes the findings of a study in the present tense. That is also the case when expressing people’s claims and opinions .

Instances to Use Past Tense in an Essay

You must be careful with the tense you use in your essay. Each tense does come with its demands. For instance, past tense is ideal for emphasizing that people do not accept a particular idea. Use past tense to describe that idea for easier understanding.

If your essay describes historical events, you have to use past tense. It makes the description clearer to the reader. This is a clear indication that they can get a picture of the turn of events. This is very crucial for the flow of your essay.

Reading it becomes engaging and enjoyable without any sense of struggling to understand ideas.

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Instances to Use Future Tense in an Essay

Not often do students use the future tense in essays. They either use present and past tenses, the former being the most common.

But some instances permit the use of future tense. It does play a significant role.

Use future tense to describe your essay’s research predictions, methods, and aims. It becomes easier to demystify what the researcher is up to.

Besides, if you recommend research sources or state the application of study findings, then use future tense. You can easily describe something that is yet to happen or likely to occur in the future.

Can You Combine All Tenses in Essay Writing?

You can also use all tenses in your essay. However, you need to take this step with a lot of caution. Remember, the reader needs to get your message. You have to do that with some pomp to make your essay an enticing read .

Combining all tenses will certainly do that job for you.

Describe the cause and impact of interlocking events in an essay by combining all tenses. Your target audience can now get the hang of the events from a much broader perceptive. However, you have to respect time settings.

It is crucial to avoid any confusion that might distort your message. Ensure you get rid of any sophistication bound to disturb the flow of thoughts in your write-up.

Combining all tenses can be a win or a loss for you. It depends on the context of your essay. Besides, you need to mind your reader.

Your essay should be on a standard that is easier to comprehend. Thus, proceed with caution. 

Make your point in a manner that captures the reader’s attention. Using all tenses can help you achieve that feat. However, the tenses should not appear haphazardly. If you are not careful, you might make it hard for your reader to understand your insinuating description.

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Choosing the right tense for your essay is fundamental. It ensures that you can engage your reader in a comprehensive context easily. It starts by knowing when to use present, past, and future tense or combine them.

If your essay is about current events, it must be in the present tense. The reader gets to know what is happening at the very moment.

Use past tense to write an essay on past events. Describing those events will be much easier. You will do it with clarity hence not causing any confusion. On the other side, the future tense suits the description of events yet to occur.

You can also use the future tense to predict events that are about to happen. And if you want to polish your essay, care to combine all tenses, but do it with caution.

Watch this video to learn more about this.

When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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Throughout this document, example sentences with nonstandard or inconsistent usage have verbs in red .

Controlling shifts in verb tense

Writing often involves telling stories. Sometimes we narrate a story as our main purpose in writing; sometimes we include brief anecdotes or hypothetical scenarios as illustrations or reference points in an essay.

Even an essay that does not explicitly tell a story involves implied time frames for the actions discussed and states described. Changes in verb tense help readers understand the temporal relationships among various narrated events. But unnecessary or inconsistent shifts in tense can cause confusion.

Generally, writers maintain one tense for the main discourse and indicate changes in time frame by changing tense relative to that primary tense, which is usually either simple past or simple present. Even apparently non-narrative writing should employ verb tenses consistently and clearly.

General guideline: Do not shift from one tense to another if the time frame for each action or state is the same.

Explains is present tense, referring to a current state; asked is past, but should be present ( ask ) because the students are currently continuing to ask questions during the lecture period.

CORRECTED: The instructor explains the diagram to students who ask questions during the lecture.

Darkened and sprang up are past tense verbs; announces is present but should be past ( announced ) to maintain consistency within the time frame.

CORRECTED: About noon the sky darkened , a breeze sprang up , and a low rumble announced the approaching storm.

Walk is present tense but should be past to maintain consistency within the time frame ( yesterday ); rode is past, referring to an action completed before the current time frame.

CORRECTED: Yesterday we walked to school but later rode the bus home.

General guideline: Do shift tense to indicate a change in time frame from one action or state to another.

Love is present tense, referring to a current state (they still love it now;) built is past, referring to an action completed before the current time frame (they are not still building it.)

Began is past tense, referring to an action completed before the current time frame; had reached is past perfect, referring to action from a time frame before that of another past event (the action of reaching was completed before the action of beginning.)

Are installing is present progressive, referring to an ongoing action in the current time frame (the workers are still installing, and have not finished;) will need is future, referring to action expected to begin after the current time frame (the concert will start in the future, and that's when it will need amplification.)

Controlling shifts in a paragraph or essay

General guideline: Establish a primary tense for the main discourse, and use occasional shifts to other tenses to indicate changes in time frame.

• Rely on past tense to narrate events and to refer to an author or an author's ideas as historical entities (biographical information about a historical figure or narration of developments in an author's ideas over time).
• Use present tense to state facts, to refer to perpetual or habitual actions, and to discuss your own ideas or those expressed by an author in a particular work. Also use present tense to describe action in a literary work, movie, or other fictional narrative. Occasionally, for dramatic effect, you may wish to narrate an event in present tense as though it were happening now. If you do, use present tense consistently throughout the narrative, making shifts only where appropriate.
• Future action may be expressed in a variety of ways, including the use of will, shall, is going to, are about to, tomorrow and other adverbs of time, and a wide range of contextual cues.

Using other tenses in conjunction with simple tenses

It is not always easy (or especially helpful) to try to distinguish perfect and/or progressive tenses from simple ones in isolation, for example, the difference between simple past progressive ("She was eating an apple") and present perfect progressive ("She has been eating an apple"). Distinguishing these sentences in isolation is possible, but the differences between them make clear sense only in the context of other sentences since the time-distinctions suggested by different tenses are relative to the time frame implied by the verb tenses in surrounding sentences or clauses.

Example 1: Simple past narration with perfect and progressive elements

On the day in question...

By the time Tom noticed the doorbell, it had already rung three times. As usual, he had been listening to loud music on his stereo. He turned the stereo down and stood up to answer the door. An old man was standing on the steps. The man began to speak slowly, asking for directions.

In this example, the progressive verbs had been listening and was standing suggest action underway at the time some other action took place. The stereo-listening was underway when the doorbell rang. The standing on the steps was underway when the door was opened. The past perfect progressive verb had been listening suggests action that began in the time frame prior to the main narrative time frame and that was still underway as another action began.

If the primary narration is in the present tense, then the present progressive or present perfect progressive is used to indicate action that is or has been underway as some other action begins. This narrative style might be used to describe a scene from a novel, movie, or play, since action in fictional narratives is conventionally treated as always present. For example, we refer to the scene in Hamlet in which the prince first speaks (present) to the ghost of his dead father or the final scene in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing , which takes place (present) the day after Mookie has smashed (present perfect) the pizzeria window. If the example narrative above were a scene in a play, movie, or novel, it might appear as follows.

Example 2: Simple present narration with perfect and progressive elements

In this scene...

By the time Tom notices the doorbell, it has already rung three times. As usual, he has been listening to loud music on his stereo. He turns the stereo down and stands up to answer the door. An old man is standing on the steps. The man begins to speak slowly, asking for directions.

In this example as in the first one, the progressive verbs has been listening and is standing indicate action underway as some other action takes place. The present perfect progressive verb has been listening suggests action that began in the time frame prior to the main narrative time frame and that is still underway as another action begins. The remaining tense relationships parallel those in the first example.

In all of these cases, the progressive or -ing part of the verb merely indicates ongoing action, that is, action underway as another action occurs. The general comments about tense relationships apply to simple and perfect tenses, regardless of whether there is a progressive element involved.

It is possible to imagine a narrative based on a future time frame as well, for example, the predictions of a psychic or futurist. If the example narrative above were spoken by a psychic, it might appear as follows.

Example 3: Simple future narration with perfect and progressive elements

Sometime in the future...

By the time Tom notices the doorbell, it will have already rung three times. As usual, he will have been listening to loud music on his stereo. He will turn the stereo down and will stand up to answer the door. An old man will be standing on the steps. The man will begin to speak slowly, asking for directions.

In this example as in the first two, the progressive verbs will have been listening and will be standing indicate ongoing action. The future perfect progressive verb will have been listening suggests action that will begin in the time frame prior to the main narrative time frame and that will still be underway when another action begins. The verb notices here is in present-tense form, but the rest of the sentence and the full context of the narrative cue us to understand that it refers to future time. The remaining tense relationships parallel those in the first two examples.

General guidelines for use of perfect tenses

In general the use of perfect tenses is determined by their relationship to the tense of the primary narration. If the primary narration is in simple past, then action initiated before the time frame of the primary narration is described in past perfect. If the primary narration is in simple present, then action initiated before the time frame of the primary narration is described in present perfect. If the primary narration is in simple future, then action initiated before the time frame of the primary narration is described in future perfect.

Past primary narration corresponds to Past Perfect ( had + past participle) for earlier time frames

Present primary narration corresponds to Present Perfect ( has or have + past participle) for earlier time frames

Future primary narration corresponds to Future Perfect ( will have + past participle) for earlier time frames

The present perfect is also used to narrate action that began in real life in the past but is not completed, that is, may continue or may be repeated in the present or future. For example: "I have run in four marathons" (implication: "so far... I may run in others"). This usage is distinct from the simple past, which is used for action that was completed in the past without possible continuation or repetition in the present or future. For example: "Before injuring my leg, I ran in four marathons" (implication: "My injury prevents me from running in any more marathons").

Time-orienting words and phrases like before, after, by the time , and others—when used to relate two or more actions in time—can be good indicators of the need for a perfect-tense verb in a sentence.

• By the time the senator finished (past) his speech, the audience had lost (past perfect) interest.
• By the time the senator finishes (present: habitual action) his speech, the audience has lost (present perfect) interest.
• By the time the senator finishes (present: suggesting future time) his speech, the audience will have lost (future perfect) interest.
• After everyone had finished (past perfect) the main course, we offered (past) our guests dessert.
• After everyone has finished (present perfect) the main course, we offer (present: habitual action) our guests dessert.
• After everyone has finished (present perfect) the main course, we will offer (future: specific one-time action) our guests dessert.
• Long before the sun rose (past), the birds had arrived (past perfect) at the feeder.
• Long before the sun rises (present: habitual action), the birds have arrived (present perfect) at the feeder.
• Long before the sun rises (present: suggesting future time), the birds will have arrived (future perfect) at the feeder.

Sample paragraphs

The main tense in this first sample is past. Tense shifts are inappropriate and are indicated in bold .

(adapted from a narrative)

Inappropriate shifts from past to present, such as those that appear in the above paragraph, are sometimes hard to resist. The writer becomes drawn into the narrative and begins to relive the event as an ongoing experience. The inconsistency should be avoided, however. In the sample, will should be would , and rise should be rose .

The main tense in this second sample is present. Tense shifts—all appropriate—are indicated in bold.

(adapted from an article in the magazine Wilderness )

This writer uses the present tense to describe the appearance of a dragonfly on a particular July morning. However, both past and future tenses are called for when she refers to its previous actions and to its predictable activity in the future.

Click here for exercises on verb tense.

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• Writing Tips

Tense Use in Essays: Past vs. Present

2-minute read

• 16th April 2016

It’s mostly time travellers who worry about the more convoluted aspects of grammatical tense , but the issue of tense use in academic writing is, nonetheless, controversial.

To be specific, there is much disagreement about tense use in essays : specifically, is past or present tense best? Today, we look into this tricky problem.

Present Tense

The present tense is used when discussing current events or states. It will often be the dominant tense used in academic writing due to the number of situations to which it applies:

• Stating general principles or theories (e.g. ‘The third law of thermodynamics states …’)
• Describing a fact (e.g. ‘Catalysts increase the rate of a reaction…’)
• Expressing an opinion or making a claim (e.g. ‘I believe further research is required…’)
• Analysing the results of an experiment (e.g. ‘The results show that…’)

In all these cases, the present tense shows that something applies at the current time or emphasises its relevance to the present.

The present tense can also do this in a literature review, since it frames research in terms of its current significance. This shows that you’re engaged with ongoing debate in your field of study, not simply describing out-of-date research.

The past tense is used when describing events that have already happened. In academic writing, this could be writing up a completed experiment.

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For example, the past tense can be used in methodology and results sections. Likewise, the past tense is useful when writing a case study, since this is almost always about something that has already occurred.

While you can use the past tense in a literature review, saying that someone ‘believed’ something may imply that they changed their mind. As such, the past tense can be used for discussing ‘dead’ ideas (i.e. things that no-one holds true any more) or something that someone has since disavowed.

Future Tense

The future tense is useful for discussing things that are yet to happen, such as when we commit to doing something (e.g. ‘I will continue to research this issue’).

Generally, you won’t need to do this too often in academic writing. However, the future tense can be useful in the following situations:

• Making predictions about the future
• Offering recommendations based on your results
• Suggesting new avenues of research

In all these cases, the future tense will help you express yourself more clearly.

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• English Grammar
• English Tenses
• Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense - Definition, Structure, Rules, Uses and Examples

Did you learn the simple past tense yet? No? Nothing to worry about. This article on simple past tense will help you understand the meaning, definition and structure of simple past tense. Furthermore, you will also learn how to use the simple past tense and its uses along with examples.

Table of Contents

Definition of simple past tense, structure of the simple past tense, rules and points to remember when using the simple past tense, what do you use the simple past tense for, forming the simple past tense – examples, test your understanding of simple past tense, frequently asked questions on simple past tense in english, the simple past tense.

The simple past tense, in English, is used to represent an action/event that took place in the past. With many verbs , the simple past tense is formed by adding an ‘ed’ or a ‘d’ to the end of the base verb. However, there are other verbs which behave differently and take different spellings when used in the simple past form.

The ‘simple past tense’, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is defined as “the form of a verb used to describe an action that happened before the present time and is no longer happening. It is usually made by adding -ed.” The Collins Dictionary defines the ‘simple past tense’ as “a tense used to refer to the past.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines the simple past tense as “the tense used to talk about habitual actions, behaviour, or situations that happened or existed before now.”

Learning the structure of the simple past tense can be made simple if you analyse how the tense is used in the positive, negative, interrogative and negative interrogative formats. Look at the table below to have a better understanding of the same.

When conjugating a verb in the simple past tense, there are a few points you have to bear in mind.

• Conjugating regular verbs – In order to present the main verb in the sentence, you just have to add ‘-ed’ to the end of the regular verb and ‘-d’ to the end of a regular verb which ends with an ‘e’.

For example: Reach – reached, kick – kicked, walk – walked, confess – confessed, work –

Like – liked, introduce – introduced, force – forced, announce – announced,

` notice – noticed

• Verbs that remain the same – Some verbs take the same spelling as the base verb and remain the same in the past tense.

For example: Cut – cut, put – put, hurt – hurt, set – set, hit – hit

• Verbs that take different spelling patterns – Irregular verbs are seen to follow different spelling patterns and there is no rule as such to explain why they are so.

For example: Buy – bought, think – thought, draw – drew, drink – drank, see – saw

The simple past tense can be used to,

• Refer to an action or event that happened in the past
• Speak about something that was true for some time in the past
• Explain something that happened more than once in the past

To help you understand how the simple past tense can be used, here are a few examples.

Referring to an action that happened in the past

• We went to the park yesterday evening.
• I totally forgot about the meeting.
• Manu opened the door for the guests.

Referring to an action that was true for some time in the past

• Karthik played tennis when he was in school.
• Miss Holly worked as a guest lecturer at our college.
• Santana used to love reading fantasy novels when she was younger.

Referring to an action that took place several times in the past

• I worked as an academic counsellor for six months.
• We enjoyed playing Pictionary every time we met.
• My father dropped me at school every day till I entered high school.

Fill in the blanks with the simple past tense of the verbs mentioned in the brackets:

1. I _____ (pay) the bills already.

2. The teacher ________ (motivate) her kids to stand up for themselves and their fellow classmates.

3. Reena ______ (to be) a student at Delhi University.

4. ______ you ______ (finish – interrogative) the science and maths assignments?

5. Tina __________ (know – negative) about yesterday’s test.

6. _________ he ________ (complete – negative interrogative) the paper yet?

7. Rahul __________ (play) basketball in college.

8. Will and Emma _________ (to be) at the fair.

9. Manish _________ (sell) all the sachets.

10. I _________ (think) about it, but I don’t think it will work.

Check out if you filled in the blanks with the right form of the verb.

1. I paid the bills already.

2. The teacher motivated her kids to stand up for themselves and their fellow classmates.

3. Reena was a student at Delhi University.

4. Did you finish the science and maths assignments?

5. Tina did not know about yesterday’s test.

6. Didn’t he complete the paper yet?

7. Rahul played basketball in college.

8. Will and Emma were at the fair.

9. Manish sold all the sachets.

10. I thought about it, but I don’t think it will work.

What is the past tense?

The simple past tense, in English, is used to represent an action event that took place in the past. With many vwebs, the simple past tense is formed by adding an ‘ed’ or a ‘d’ to the end of the base verb. However, there are other verbs which behave differently and take different spellings when used in the simple past form.

What is the definition of simple past tense?

What is the formula of the simple past tense.

The basic formula of the simple past tense is as follows: Subject + verb in the past tense (verb + ‘ed/d’ for regular verbs)

Give some examples of the simple past tense.

Here are a few examples to show you how the simple past tense is used in sentences.

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How to Use Present and Past Tense in Essay Writing

Today we look at how we use present and past tenses in our essay writing to convery our message through our best of knowledge with a proper tone.

Essay writing! You might be thinking that why is a blog post on essay writing? It is something everyone can do. Yes, you are very correct everyone can do it but the point is who does it in the right way.

Suppose you need to write an essay in an exam in your answer sheet. The most important thing is that you need to keep the content relevant and keep a check on your verb tenses. While you would be moving fro tense to tense it may create some confusion while writing or while transitioning the content. Often you would need to switch tense which might upset the sequence of narration.

1. Try to Write the Essays in Present Tense

Generally, while writing essays, the writer must always use the present tense. If you wish to use the past tense then you need to refer to the events of the past. It shows the author’s ideas in a historical context. There is an exception to all these rules which explains that it is a narrative essay through which a writer can choose the past or present tense in the writing style. But the point that needs to consider is that the tense should remain consistent throughout the content.

When you are completely indulging in the writing process then it shows your effectiveness in every essay possible. Simple said, the answer would depend on the type of essay where you would be writing. When you are shifting tense from one to another, it becomes a bit distracting to the reader and they might leave it in the middle.

If you are discussing the narrative essay then it might become a bit of exception to the rule just because they will tell a fiction (a story). If you are relying on the tense (which will be past) to narrate some incidents or events then you need to refer to the writer’s perspective and his ideas just like historical entities.

If in an essay you are trying to state some facts which would refer to some perpetual or actions then you need to use the present tense. Suppose you are discussing your own ideas or expressing a particular work then also you can use the present tense.

You can use the present tense to describe the action in the work. It can also be some narrative fictional.

2. If you are trying to use multiple tenses in your essay then make sure that you do not lose the clarity in the work.

It often happens when the writer is trying to mix the tense while explaining two or three multiple situations or stories. The break between the tenses will confuse your audience or readers. Hence you need to be very careful while making that smooth transition between the tenses.

3. You can Mix the tenses For Bringing Out Various Colors And Variety

It is very important to mix tenses wherever it is necessary and appropriate but it should signal the changes between the time setting. When you mix the tenses it will show the major cause and effect of inter-locking events. The beautiful use of past and perfect is mainly used to show or describe the scene of an accident being very effective. It will give you a quality that will help you in haunting, live-on-memory, or any other event.

4. Practice Practice Practice….

When you are dealing with multiple sentences in a single content then you must practice using such sentences in your normal article writing routine. It will provide you a platform where you can try out your hand then proofread it to make sure everything is correct. Once this is done use can do the same for your main content. This way you will have a good practice of things and you won’t make any mistake.

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Free Past Tense Checker To Prevent Wrong Tense Usage

Enjoy the best design and functions combined together

Tenses are the proverbial backbone of the English language. Without tense, everything seems to be absurd. Along with helping you describe actions that took place at different periods, tenses make it easier to construct complex sentence structures. But given that huge number of tenses, it can be easy for you to confuse them in your writing. Verb tense errors come in different forms including verb inconsistencies and tense shifts, which can affect the meaning and clarity of your texts. 

Luckily, our online past tense checker can help eliminate the guesswork of whether you are using past tenses correctly in your writing. The tool also comes with a suite of other tools including a grammar checker, a passive voice checker, and a plagiarism checker. Simply copy and paste your texts on the tool and receive instant feedback. 

But before we get “under the hood” to show how our free tense checker works, let’s discuss the different types of tenses in English.

What Are the Main Tenses in English?

There are three primary categories of tense forms in English writing i.e past, present, and future. These tense forms can further be divided into simple, continuous, and perfect tense. 

Let’s briefly take a look at each.

Simple Past

Used to describe actions that occurred before now.

Example: I wrote a book last month.

Past Continuous

Used to denote an ongoing event in the past.

Example: He was eating a cookie yesterday evening.

Past Perfect

Used to describe an event that concluded before a particular time in the past.

Example: By morning, she had exercised for 30 minutes.

Simple Present

Describes a habitual action or actions happening currently.

Example:  She prays in her room by the corner.

I want a kitchen like that.

Present Continuous

Used to denote an ongoing event happening right now.

Example: I am composing a future hit!

Present Perfect

Describes an event that commenced in the past and continues to happen now. It can also be used to denote an action that occurred at an unspecified time.

Example:  He has participated in the event since he was 11.

I have composed 2 songs.

Simple Future

Describes events that’ll occur and stop.

Example: I will visit the gym tomorrow.

Future Continuous

Events that will happen in the future and continue to happen for some time.

Example: I will be visiting her in school.

Future Perfect

Events that will end in the future at some point.

Example: I will have visited her by Friday.

Common Tense Errors That Our Verb Tense Checker Online Tool Can Help With

Whether you are a proficient English writer or a beginner, identifying tense-related errors in your writing can be challenging. As such, the best way to avoid them is to master grammar rules that govern tense usage. 

Here are some of the most common errors that you can potentially make when using verb tenses.

Tense Shifts

In linguistics, tense shifts occur when a writer alternates between present to past tenses or vice versa. 

Incorrect: There was a storm and all the houses are carried away.

Correct: There was a storm and all the houses were carried away.

Our tense checker online free tool can help catch and fix instances of unmotivated shifts between past and present tenses.

Overusing Continuous Tenses

Another common tense-related entail sparingly using continuous tenses, which makes writing sound clunky.

 I  ncorrect: It was pouring ice while we were in church, and the kids were complaining because they were getting sweaty.

Correct: It poured ice while we were in church, and the kids complained because they got sweaty.

The past tense verb checker will help streamline your texts by eliminating unnecessary continuous tenses.

Confusion with Irregular Verbs

Most past participles and simple past tenses are formed by pairing base verbs with the suffix- ed. For example, open – opened. However, there are irregular verbs, which don’t follow this obvious pattern. 

Incorrect: It costed $20.

Correct: It cost $20.

Just like all the other above-related tenses, the past tense finder can eliminate irregular verbs in your texts.

Other Features of Our Tense Checker Online

On top of fixing verb tense errors, our perfect tense checker comes with a suite of other editing and proofreading features. They include:

Grammar Checker

Whether you are a student, teacher, journalist, or business professional, you want your readers to easily understand what you are trying to communicate. And the best way to achieve this is by ensuring your texts are free from silly grammar mistakes. Fortunately, our past tense essay checker also doubles as a grammar check, letting you catch hundreds of English grammar mistakes.

Spelling Checker

Spelling mistakes make your writing appear sloppy and can hurt your reputation and credibility as a writer. The grammar tense checker enables you to identify and fix the most arduous spelling mistakes with a high level of accuracy and speed.

Punctuation Checker

Wrong punctuation can interfere with the logical flow of your texts and confuse your readers. And in today’s increasingly digital world, proper punctuation can make all the difference between being the most-read website and receiving good grades, or not being so fortunate. Luckily, our correct tense checker will ensure your texts are correctly punctuated.

Parts of Speech Finder

Every word or phrase in the English language belongs to word categories known as parts of speech. These word classes include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, and determiners. Our online tense checker also comes with comprehensive parts of speech checker, which lets you identify and profile the different word categories in your writing.

Plagiarism Checker

Plagiarism is the illegal act of using or presenting someone else’s idea or content as yours. The practice is highly detested in academia and the professional world and can lead to a damaged reputation and even expulsion from school. Our tense checker will crawl through the internet and academic databases to catch accidental plagiarism in your writing.

How Our Past Tense Checker Online Tool Works

Our past tense checker online free tool is one of the easiest to use on the market. You can use it online or download it as a Chrome Extension. 

Simply follow these easy steps to edit past tense in your texts.

• Copy-paste your texts into the blank text editor or type directly on the tool. 
• Hit the “Check” button and wait for the tense shift checker to scan the document. 
• In a couple of seconds, the tool will return feedback highlighting all the spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors in your work. It will also provide contextual suggestions on how to fix them.
• Accept the suggestions by clicking on the highlighted mistake.

Benefits of Using Our Tense Identifier Online Tool

As a student or writer dealing with a huge workload, it’s almost impossible to juggle between manually editing your documents and searching for an editing tool at the same time. Worse still, finding the best tool to past tense proofread and convert to past tense can be a daunting task given the huge number available on the market.

So, what makes our past tense changer stand out from the rest? Consider these four main benefits.

Proofreading is a critical step of any writing process and you should never overlook it. On the flip side, however, its meticulous and time-consuming nature means proofreading can pose a major challenge to even the most experienced writer. With our tool, you can check past tense errors or any other grammar-related mistakes in your writing within one sitting.

Multipurpose

Our writing tense checker also comes with several other powerful proofreading tools including a grammar checker, punctuation checker, and plagiarism checker. It can also be deployed in all forms of writing including academic papers, articles, blog posts, emails, and Google Docs, making it an all-rounded editing tool.

Working on a tight budget and don’t have enough budget to hire a professional editor or purchase a premium tense detector? Our past tense checker free tool doesn’t require any subscription fee, which makes it ideal for everyone looking to polish their writing without spending a fortune.

24/7 Accessibility

Today, there are multiple tense checker essay tools out there that require users to pay a subscription fee to use them. Our tense fixer, on the other hand, is 100% free to use. All you need is Internet connectivity and you are good to go.

Tips on How to Check Verb Tense in Your Writing

Generally speaking, most tense-related errors can be avoided by mastering the basic grammar rules and taking extra caution when writing. Let’s take a look at useful tips that you can deploy to avoid tense-related mistakes:

• Always concentrate when writing
• Avoid shifting verb tenses in your sentences or paragraphs
• Ensure consistency in your verb forms
• Always try and use past, simple present, and present perfect tenses in your writing
• Avoid confusing tenses that look similar

Use our tense finder to catch verb-usage-related errors.

Try Our Online Tense Finder Today and Get Your Texts Polished to Perfection Within Seconds.

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23 Contoh Soal Simple Past Tense Essay dan Jawabannya

Saudara bisa berpindah ke contoh soal bahasa inggris yang lain, semisal setelah mengerjakan latihan soal simple past tense essay, kemudian ingin berlatih soal WH Question atau Pronoun, dengan mengklik menu dropdown " Daftar Latihan Soal Bahasa Inggris " di bawah, semoga membantu anda.

Simple Past Tense adalah kalimat yang digunakan untuk menyatakan aktivitas yang telah berlalu. Seperti kalimat saya telah pergi ke kota kemarin ( I went to city yesterday ). Kami telah membuat topi bulan lalu (We made a hat last month ) 

Cara mudah mengerjakan soal Simple Past Tense dalam bentuk essay adalah dengan memahami arti dari kalimat soal tersebut, dengan memahami arti dari kalimat soal maka anda faham apa yang diinginkan oleh soal, adapun supaya kita memahami arti dari kalimat soal, maka perbendaharaan kosa kata tentang bahasa inggris harus mumpuni.

Cara kedua supaya memudahkan di dalam mengerjakan soal Simple Past Tense dalam bentuk essay, yakni dengan sering anda mengerjakan latihan dan belajar terus menerus tentang penggunaan Simple Past Tense di dalam sebuah kalimat. Dengan sering berlatih maka kemampuan anda di dalam mengerjakan soal Simple Past Tense akan lebih mahir. 

Berikut adalah 23 contoh Simple Past Tense dalam bentuk essay, adapun kunci jawaban soal berada di akhir soal. 

Contoh Soal Simple Past Tense Essay dan Jawabannya

Use the words in the brackets to complete the questions (Gunakan kata-kata yang terdapat di dalam kurung untuk melengkapi kalimat di bawah 

• Did you … to bioscop last night? (go)
• When did they  .. this beer yesterday? (drink)
• I … the butterfly in front of my home yesterday. (see)
• I … In this village since last year. (live)
• What …. She give to you yesterday? (Do)
• He ,,,, stones to the army last week. (throw) 
• What did she … in their store?  ( buy)
• How  … You …  in the morning? (do, eat) 
• The teacher … something to the student yesterday? (say) 
• How did you learn to speak English? “My father …. Me (teach) 
• Roziqin and I played badminton last month, He is much better than me, So Roziqin … easily. (win)
• Abdillah … more than 200 books last year. (write)
• Where did she … this paper? (take)
• Zaid  …. the door yesterday. (close)
• My teacher  …. To me Be excellent each other last month (say)
• The door was open, and the cat ,,, this house . (enter)
• Mr. Budi  … a bread last night. (make)
• I was sick, so I … to bed early (go)
• Tamara was not hungry, so she …. anything (eat)
• They went to ardi’s house, but he …. At home (be)
• I knew my sister was very busy, So I …. her. (disturb)
• We couldn’t manage our car, so we …. it (sell)
• We were very happy with this house, se we …. It. (sell) 

Kunci Jawaban

8. did, eat

16. Entered

19. Didn’t eat

20. Was not

21. Didn’t disturb

23. didn’t sell

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Guest Essay

Biden Can Do Something at the Debates That Trump Never Could

By Patti Davis

Ms. Davis is the author of “Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory and the America We Once Knew.”

In 1960, I sat on the living room floor in front of a black-and-white television and watched one of the presidential debates between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. It wasn’t my preferred programming, but my parents were watching it and communicated to me that this was sort of a homework assignment, as in, “this is how democracy works.” I was nearly 8. I remember fidgeting with the shag carpet, wondering how long this was going to go on, yet also taking in the fact that the two men on the screen opposed each other, probably didn’t like each other, but were being unfailingly polite in their disagreements. My takeaway was: This is how adults are supposed to behave.

Twenty years later, in 1980, I watched my father, Ronald Reagan, debate Jimmy Carter. There was the moment when then President Carter decisively (but politely) criticized my father for his opposition to Medicare. My father smiled, cocked his head and said, “There you go again.” He went on to explain that though he had opposed one bill, he had favored another that he thought would have offered better health care. What was memorable was the way he did it — without anger, without sarcasm or meanness, but instead with humor. Shrugging off the criticism and gently, easily setting the record straight came across as a stark contrast to Mr. Carter’s solemn demeanor. In that moment, I think, he won the debate, showing Americans, some of whom had questions about his temperament, that he was unflappable.

Cut to 2000, when George W. Bush and Al Gore debated. There was a moment in the third debate when Mr. Bush was speaking and Mr. Gore crossed the stage and got way too close to his opponent. Mr. Gore basically invaded his space, but Mr. Bush just turned, gave him a friendly nod of his head and smiled. He may as well have said, “Howdy.” Mr. Gore may have scored more points on substance, but people remembered that moment. They remembered the guy who exuded a coolheaded likability in the tense environment of a debate.

Many of us still recall when people in the political arena were expected to meet a base-line level of dignity, when candidates presented themselves as adults who understood the value of civility — because, they thought and we all generally believed, that’s what voters wanted and expected. But sadly, there are more and more Americans who regard maturity, sportsmanship and most of all civility in politics as elitist, phony hallmarks of an establishment that doesn’t talk or act like regular people. As a result, some politicians think of campaigning as another version of an M.M.A. fight. There was a time when presidents gave State of the Union addresses without being heckled by the elected representatives sitting in the audience. There was a time when candidates debated one another without interrupting and insulting. There was a time when Republican presidents and Democratic speakers of the House spoke to one another like Americans in the same boat together and tried to solve problems in a give-and-take. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?

It’s true that not everything in the past was clean and respectful. Politics has always involved some insults and name-calling. But there was a huge change in 2016. Donald Trump pulled the cork out of the bottle, made cruelty mainstream and was rewarded for it. A disabled reporter was mocked; Republican rivals (and their relatives ) were smeared; crowds of people, when Hillary Clinton’s name was invoked, chanted, “Lock her up!” And the man who gave permission for all of it was sworn in as president.

So who are we as a country? Do we revere democratic principles and know that in order to uphold those principles, civil discourse is vital? Or have we become so enamored of down-and-dirty fighting that we can’t seem to get out of the mud pit?

President Biden has an opportunity to reclaim what was once a prominent characteristic of American politics in his upcoming debates with Donald Trump, but he isn’t off to a great start. His invitation to debate included the sarcastic taunt “ Well, make my day, pal .” Hearing a president imitate Clint Eastwood rubbed me the wrong way. Later I realized my father had used that line, too. It wasn’t his finest moment, either.

So how about standing on a ledge above the mud pit? Mr. Biden is effusive in his optimism about America and all this country is and can be. He has a chance to set an example for the nation. Obviously, Mr. Trump is not going to be civil on the debate stage. He doesn’t know how. But the president of the United States should refuse to be baited into sloshing around in mud, too. How hard can it be to rise above a man who just recently praised “the late, great Hannibal Lecter” as though he were a real — and admirable — person? It shouldn’t be that difficult to ignore Mr. Trump’s taunts, his insults, his interruptions, and choose dignity instead. If Mr. Biden has one overarching goal in his debate with Mr. Trump next month, it’s to remind voters that he is and will be the adult in the room, and that he will preserve the country’s dignity.

Because civility in this country is plummeting, on the streets, in businesses, on social media and pretty much everywhere else. Wouldn’t it be helpful if the person holding the highest office in the land gave us a concrete example of what it means to comport ourselves with dignity and restraint?

Patti Davis is the author of “Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory and the America We Once Knew.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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