[Grammar] queries on tenses

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jour

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
Dear Sir/Madam,

I always have diffuculties in tenses. Could you please enlighten me on the following queries.

1. When I wirte an essay entitled " My Holiday", I used past tense to describe my journey. However, when I want to describe things that I see like " The Taipei 101 stands at...(height) is the most famous financial centre in Taiwan. It has ... floor of storeys". Should I used past tense - "The Taipei 101 stood at ... was the most famous
financial centre in Taiwan. It had.... floor of storeys". The building and the height is of something permanent but I'm not sure what tense to use because I'm wirting a past event.

2. In writing my CV, I used past tense to decribe my past job experiences. However when it comes to describe the project that I have done. I'm confused because the project is still existing and running but i have to put it in past tense just to keep the consistency of tenses in use. For example, "The Card Access System is a ..... and the data captured will be sent to " OR should I write " The Card Access System was a ..... and the data captured would be sent to".

Thank you very much for your time and help. Hope to hear from you soon. Warm regards...jour:)
 

philo2009

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Dear Sir/Madam,

I always have diffuculties in tenses. Could you please enlighten me on the following queries.

1. When I wirte an essay entitled " My Holiday", I used past tense to describe my journey. However, when I want to describe things that I see like " The Taipei 101 stands at...(height) is the most famous financial centre in Taiwan. It has ... floor of storeys". Should I used past tense - "The Taipei 101 stood at ... was the most famous
financial centre in Taiwan. It had.... floor of storeys". The building and the height is of something permanent but I'm not sure what tense to use because I'm wirting a past event.

2. In writing my CV, I used past tense to decribe my past job experiences. However when it comes to describe the project that I have done. I'm confused because the project is still existing and running but i have to put it in past tense just to keep the consistency of tenses in use. For example, "The Card Access System is a ..... and the data captured will be sent to " OR should I write " The Card Access System was a ..... and the data captured would be sent to".

Thank you very much for your time and help. Hope to hear from you soon. Warm regards...jour:)

1. Present tense.
2. Use whichever is appropriate: clarity/accuracy of meaning outranks consistency!
 
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