英語論文的時態運用，你get論文嗎？

08-11

英語論文的時態運用，你get論文嗎？

1 人贊了文章

科技英語時態有一些規矩（rules, 沒有靈活性可言），我們寫文章時必須遵守。下面，我們用加重的黑色字體來標明這些規矩。但是，有些地方，兩種時態（比如過去時、現在時），都可以用。不信？請往下看。

為了便於理解、應用，我們按科技論文的寫作框架來討論英語時態的用法。

Abstract

If you google "英語摘要的時態，" you will see "use the past tense." (網上搜索，你會看到「摘要應該用過去時」。）If you never wrote a paper on your own, you may take this as the truth and follow it faithfully. But, I have to say this "rule" needs to be relaxed. Here is why. （但是，摘要不一定非用過去時哦。）

I am an ocean modeler, and used to write papers on basic physics related to ocean dynamics. I never used the past tense in my own abstracts, never. Instead, I used the present tense. (Oh, in case you dont know my work, all my papers were published in good journals in the field.) Why? This is because these papers are about basic physics, and the results remain true if one repeats these numerical experiments (at least I hope so

So, now you know at least there are two ways to write an abstract: the past tense, and the present tense. （摘要可以用過去時，也可用現在時。）

In fact, you cannot use the past tense if you want to end the abstract like this: "This new method has great potenial in xxx application." (有時你不能用過去時，比如談論一個新方法的應用。）

The best way to decide which tense to use is to read your colleagues papers and to check out journals requirements (under guidelines for authors).（最好的辦法是看看你的同行怎麼寫摘要、看看期刊是怎麼要求的。）

One more thing, to end the abstract with the potential impact of some of your new findings, you have to use the present tense, I think. (Now, you see where I stand.) （顯然，有時你只能用現在時。）

For example

This new method may have potential application in identifying new species.

I also find this link useful for Chinese authors: http://www.xuebao.tyut.edu.cn/webpage/EI.htm

Introduction

In the introduction, we need to cite publications. （在引言部分，我們會引用一些發表的文章。）

These are common practice

1) Use the past tense when a sentence starts with a publication. （用主動語態敘述已經發表的文章時，用過去時，不建議用現在完成時。）

For example

Ren et al. (2015) noted a dramatic increase in publication by Chinese authors in SCI journals during the 2000s, thanks in part to the cash reward and promotion criteria set by the (Chinese) system.

Note that even though the publication is recent, I still use the past tense, 「noted.」（大家注意到上面引用的文章還很新，是去年的。我依然用了過去時。）

Note also that I have no authority to make you follow this rule; but from now on you should pay attention to how your colleagues write when you read their papers.

2) Use the present tense for a result/fact that remains true today, even though the result/fact was obtained 100 years ago.（在敘述一個事實時，用現在時。）

For example

The Gulf Stream is（用現在時，因為是事實）the most powerful western boundary current on Earth, which was discovered and confirmed（用過去時，因為已經發生了）by sailors and scientists hundred years ago.

3) Use mixed (say past and present) tenses in one sentence.（一個句子中的時態不必統一！）

If you don』t like the sentence I made up in (2), here is one from Wikipedia:

European discovery of the Gulf Stream dates （因為是事實）to the 1513 expedition of Juan Ponce deLeón, after which it became（已經發生了）widely used by Spanish ships sailing from the Caribbean to Spain.

4) The last paragraph of the introduction maps out the paper. Use present tense.

It often goes like this

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section II, the procedure of the xxx method is presented. In Section III, the proposed method is tested using 66 images with different kinds of textures. Finally, Section V presents the summary of the paper.

Note that the last sentence is perfectly understandable for native and non-native speakers. In fact, most native speakers may not pay attention to the grammar (as they were never really taught the way we non-native speakers were). However, a non-native speaker editor/reviewer may pick on you, telling me that 「Section V」 is not a human with a brain to present something to the readers. What should you do then? Give in.

Methodology

To describe the methods and datasets used in the paper, we can (and should) use the present tense.

For example

We use the WOA (World Ocean Atlas) data as initial conditions for our numerical experiments. We use satellite data to validate model』s phytoplankton field in the surface layer.

別跟審稿人「一般見識」：我的一個同事被審稿人「教導」說，這些地方統統必須用過去時！You may say 「Fxxx off. This is MY paper！」 But, you should only say it to yourself loudly (or quietly). One should choose one』s battle, so let this one go. （不要為小事跟審稿人爭。在這裡用過去時無傷大雅。）

If you describe how you collected the data（過去時，已經發生了）, however, you have no choice but to use the past tense.（觀測數據採回來了，一定是今天以前做的事。對不起，必須用過去時。）

If you describe the procedure of processing the data, however, you may choose to use the past tense (emphasizing how you did it，用過去時，因為你已經處理了這些資料), or the present tense (illustrating how such a procedure should be performed，用現在時，示範如何常規地處理這些資料).

Results

Figure 5 (or Table 3) shows x, y, and z. (一定用現在時，因為作者是在與讀者實時對話。)

We use the present tense to describe all our (finished numerical) experiments. If you prefer to use the past tense, it is fine as long as you do so consistently. （可以用現在時或過去時描述你的數值模擬結果。）Do not switch from the past tense to the present tense randomly. （不能太任性哦：一會兒現在時，一會兒過去時。）

Exceptions (不能任性的地方)

To study present (modern day) climate, using the present tense is the ONLY way to go, I am afraid. （如果是研究現代氣候，一般用現在時。）

If a sentence involves a specific time, such as June 2001, you need to use the past tense. （句子中提到過去的某年某月，那麼，一定要用過去時。）

For example

Figure 3 shows （現在時）that Typhoon Megi (2015) moved （過去時）away from the coast suddenly.

如果你不喜歡這種「混合式」，可以這樣玩:

Typhoon Megi (2015) moved （過去時）away from the coast suddenly (Fig. 3).

Discussion and Conclusions

You may use the present perfect tense, such as 「we have shown,」 or use the past tense. Just be consistent. （任性的時候到了！但是，認準一個時態，不要朝三暮四哦。現在完成時、過去時都可以。）

Once again, you may use mixed (say past and present) tenses in one sentence.（一個句子中的時態不必統一。）

For example

In this paper, we showed （過去時）that the new index is（現在時） capable of tracking algae blooms in spring.