Report writing is a formal task requiring careful command of tense shifts, use of correct structures following reporting verbs, and careful use of reporting verbs. Time expressions also shift back in time. So, ‘now’ becomes ‘then’, ‘next week’ becomes ‘the following week’, ‘last week’ becomes ‘the week before’, etc.
When writing more informal documents or those intended for internal use (e.g. minutes of meetings), the rules are more relaxed. You can even use a mix of real and reported tenses if it’s a regular meeting that you’re writing minutes for. If the timing is clear to the reader, we are not so strict.
However, for formal reports, where the report may be consulted over time, the rules are strict to avoid misunderstandings. For a full set of rules on report writing, consult the Editorial Manual Online.
Test yourself on formal report writing. Correct the tense errors.
- The Country Team (CT) informed the participants that the new President will stay in the position for a year and a half, so, some political stability is to be expected.
- Dr. X informed the Committee that she was already contacted by a section whose absenteeism rate due to psycho-social reasons was increasing.
- Ms. X informed the participants that the problem was resolved.
Answer key
- The Country Team (CT) informed the participants that the new President would stay in the position for a year and a half; consequently, some political stability was to be expected.
- Dr. X informed the Committee that she had already been contacted by a section whose absenteeism rate due to psycho-social reasons was increasing.
- Ms. X informed the participants that the problem had been resolved.
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Author: Carol Waites
Presentation/editing by Christina O’Shaughnessy
https://worldwidewriting.org/
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Carol Waites (PhD)
Email: carolswritingtips@gmail.com
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