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Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article
2

Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

(OP)
I am going to do a training report in which I mention a project I did one year ago. The problem I have is that I am not sure whether present tense should be used. In addition, do I have to add “the” before construction? Pls see the sentence below:

I was involved in a project which comprises/comprised (the) construction of a bridge which is/was a 5 span continuous ………. (Assume that the details of this project is not mentioned before)

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

I'd recommend "I am involved in a project ..." if you're in the middle of the 5 year span.
or "I was ..." if the project had finished.

definitely "the construction".

btw, "Assume that the details of this project" are "not mentioned before" ... plural (details) needs are (not is).

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

(OP)
To rb1957,

Thanks.

How the meaning will change if I just use "construction of the bridge" without "the"...

Just one more question, what is the difference between "I was invloved" and "I am involved". (Note that this project has finished)

HP

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

Before getting to the tense question, I think there are a couple of other issues worth considering.  First of all, I would suggest that you use 'that' instead of 'which', and secondly, I would spell out 'five' and hyphenate it with 'span' and put the five-span adjective in front of the noun.

I am/was involved in a project that comprises/comprised (the) construction of a five-span continuous bridge.

With respect to tense, since the sentence is written in first person, are you personally still involved in the project?  If so, then use present tense, and I would not use 'the':

I am involved in a project that comprises construction of a five-span bridge.

If you're no longer part of the project, then I would use past tense and I would include the 'the'.

I was involved in a project that comprised the construction of a five-span bridge.

I cannot give you a reason why I would include the 'the' in past tense but omit it in present tense other than to me, it sounds better.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

We had that problem: future tense when the project starts, past tense when the project finishes.  Problem: a document with both future and past tense.  Then management decided just future tense for everything, regardless of whether you've finished it.  After all, documentation was supposed to have been finished before anything else started.

Without the "the", construction of bridge would sound a bit odd.  I'm not sure if it is syntactically correct either.  What does the whole sentence say?

The project may have finished but have you been retained as a consultant?  If you have, then you are still involved.

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

I agree with the others... If you're still personally involved, then use present tense, if not, past. To me, the construction sounds as if the bridge has been completed. Therefore, if you're going to use the past, use "the" before construction. Not using "the" before construction implies an on-going process.

My two cents.

V

Mechanical Engineer
"When I am working on a problem, I do not think of beauty, but when I've finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

- R. Buckminster Fuller

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

Picking nits here, but did the project only include the bridge? To me, if you use 'comprised', you need to then list all of the items included, which perhaps you do in the full sentence. [example, 'the project comprised building a bridge, painting a house, performing 'Hamlet' at midnight, and several related tasks'] If the project was only construction of a bridge, there might be a better word than 'comprised'.  Or, I might be a nutcase, which is certainly possible.

To the point:  if the project is finished, the past tense is a better choice.  To my head, using 'the' before 'construction' sounds better.

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

"comprised" could be (probably is) inclusive, but listing everything wold be "nuts" (and very boring);  i didn't mind the original sentence.  

you could sidestep this with a non-inclusive word, like "required", "involved", or more waffly "mainly comprised".

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

2
Hack, slash and cut.

If you were just talking to someone, would you say what you wrote in your first post?  Probably not.

You don't need to try to use fancy language just because you are writing.

"I was involved in the construction of a five-span bridge."

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

What's wrong with different tenses in the same document, if different things are happening at different times?

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

As a spanish native speaker, I saved some old funny emails from my first agreements with US customers.  Some day I will post it.

I remember my first email in english, some 10 years ago.  Something like "Me wanting buy xxx component to building proYect...". The other guy must have thought I lived in a tree and hunted my lunch with arrows :)

Of course, writting/speaking skills are the first step for a good business, in english and any other languages.

Thanks for helping us writting better!
Gonzalo

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

Why not pose this as a hypothetical project for your students to discuss ?  This avoids the question by casting everything into the future tense.

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

gonzaloEE,

i hope you enjoyed your xxx component ... did it involve "snap-on" tools ?? ;)

RE: Past Tense vs Present Tense & Article

Hahaha, bad idea using "xxx" for a GSM module. I forgot the code :)







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