Tenses in report writing
Tenses in report writing
(OP)
I am writing a training report and puzzled about what tense should be used.
If I want to say some contractual terms are still under negotiation, what tense (past, present or present prefect tense) should I use?
"At the time of writing this report, there are/were still contractual terms under negotiation" or "....., there have been contractual terms under negotiation".
If I want to say some contractual terms are still under negotiation, what tense (past, present or present prefect tense) should I use?
"At the time of writing this report, there are/were still contractual terms under negotiation" or "....., there have been contractual terms under negotiation".





RE: Tenses in report writing
Just write what you need to communicate in the most concise and unambiguous way possible.
RE: Tenses in report writing
RE: Tenses in report writing
RE: Tenses in report writing
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Tenses in report writing
1.Consistency is key beyond anything else.
2. And if you are not using present tense, I'd revise everything to present tense.
RE: Tenses in report writing
RE: Tenses in report writing
- Steve
RE: Tenses in report writing
Can I have one more question?
What is the different bwtween "is" and "was" in my sentence. What confuses me is training report writing is normally in past tense as it records what I did or have done in a period. However, in my question, the "contractual term" was under negotiation and is also under negotiation right now. I just don't know what tense I should use!!
RE: Tenses in report writing
"Are still under negotiation" and "were still under negotiation" both work for me, although I'd choose between them based on the undertanding I was trying to convey. For me, "at the time of writing...were still..." conveys a much stronger sense of "....but that is quite likely to have changed between the time of writing and the time of reading"
A.
RE: Tenses in report writing
Did you want to say that using "are" implies "there is quite likely to have changed between the time of writing and the time of reading"
RE: Tenses in report writing
Imagine someone reading your report out loud, and then bringing the listener up to date with latest developments. Here are two ways it could go:
At the time of writing this report, some contractual terms were still under negotiation; these negotiations have since concluded.
At the time of writing this report, some contractual terms are still under negotiation; these negotiations have since concluded.
The first version works. The second one doesn't, because it introduces an uncomfortable collision between a present tense verb describing something that was happening before an event described in the perfect (past) tense.
A.
RE: Tenses in report writing
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Tenses in report writing
RE: Tenses in report writing
- Steve
RE: Tenses in report writing