59c Indicate present and past tenses.
Every sentence in standard written English must have at least one verb or verb phrase that is not an infinitive (to write), a gerund (writing), or a participle (written) without any auxiliaries. Furthermore, every such verb or verb phrase must have a tense (32e).
In some languages, such as Chinese and Vietnamese, the verb form never changes regardless of when the action takes place. In standard written English, the time of the action must be clearly indicated by the tense form of every verb, even if the time is obvious or it is indicated elsewhere in the sentence.
Direct and indirect quotations
Changing direct quotations to indirect quotations can sometimes lead to tense shifts.
| direct | She said, “My work is now complete.” |
| indirect | She told me that her work was now complete. |
| indirect | She tells me that her work is now complete. |
In general, the verb introducing the indirect quotation (sometimes called the reporting verb) will agree in tense with the verb in the indirect quotation; there are, however, some exceptions. For example, if the reporting verb is in the past tense but the information that follows holds true in the present, shifting to a present-tense verb is acceptable.
She told me that her work is as exciting as ever.
In academic writing, reporting verbs are used regularly to refer to ideas from other texts or authors. Depending on the documentation style you use, you will probably use the present tense, the present perfect tense, or the simple past for these verbs.
Lee claims that…
Lee writes…
Lee has argued that…
Lee found that…