PTE Writing Tenses: Choose the Right Tense Every Time
Problem: candidates know tense names but mix them mid-response — present perfect where past simple belongs, tense drift inside essays — and automated marking deducts twice (grammar and written discourse). Answer in brief: assign each task its default tenses, learn the three switch signals, and proofread tense-only. Below: tense-by-task map, the perfect-vs-simple decision, drills, eight tasks and FAQs — grounded in Mastering Tenses for PTE Academic Writing by Jobin Thomas.
Learning outcomes
By the end you will be able to: set default tenses per task; choose perfect vs simple correctly; keep one tense per paragraph; and run a tense-only proofread. Method follows the source book.
Why grammar decides PTE Writing scores
The book’s premise is explicit: grammar is a key enabling skill, and the automated system checks sentence structure, verb tenses, agreement, punctuation and overall correctness. Strong ideas with frequent mistakes — or with only very basic structures — score lower; correct complex sentences lift scores. Grammar is therefore not background knowledge but a scoring lever, trained chapter by chapter and applied per task.
Tense-by-task map
Summaries: default to the passage’s own tense, usually present simple for general claims (“the study shows…”) — never “improve” it into another tense. Essays: present simple for positions and general truths (“flexible hours reduce absenteeism”); present perfect for trends up to now (“remote work has grown rapidly”); past simple only for completed examples (“the 2020 lockdowns forced…”); future forms (will/would) for consequences and proposals. Set the default in planning; deviations need a reason.
Present perfect vs past simple
Use present perfect for unfinished time reaching the present (“has increased since 2015”, no finished-time marker); past simple for finished time (“increased in 2015”, “last decade” as completed). Test: add “in 2019” — if the sentence survives, past simple; if it breaks, perfect was right. This single decision fixes the most common tense error in essays.
The three legal tense switches
Switch tense only for: 1. Time shift (past example inside a present-tense essay — one paragraph, then return). 2. Reported result (“studies have shown…”, perfect bridging past research to present claim). 3. Proposal consequence (present problem → will/would outcome). Every other switch is drift: pick it up in proofreading by reading verbs only, ignoring content.
Demonstrations (newly written)
Labelling: both demonstrations are newly written.
Drift repair (newly written)
Draft: “Pollution rises every year. Governments have ignored it for decades and introduced weak policies in 2021.” Repaired: “Pollution rises every year. Governments ignored it for decades, and the policies introduced in 2021 remain weak.” (finished-time marker forces past simple; present result stays present.)
Summary tense fidelity (newly written)
Passage (present-tense claim): “Sleep consolidates memory.” Wrong: “Sleep consolidated memory.” (tense changed, meaning shifted to history.) Right: “Sleep consolidates memory.” Keep the passage’s tense unless the task demands otherwise.
Practice bank: 8 tasks with answers
Task 1. Choose: “Online sales (have grown/grew) since 2020.” Answer: have grown (unfinished time).
Task 2. Choose: “Online sales (have grown/grew) by 40% in 2021.” Answer: grew (finished marker).
Task 3. Set essay defaults for: “Should cities ban cars?” Answer: present simple position, perfect for trend, past for completed examples, will/would for proposal outcomes.
Task 4. Find the drift: “Technology helps learning. It has changed schools in 2010 and improves results.” Answer: “changed…in 2010” must be past simple; “improves” present is fine.
Task 5. Keep summary tense: passage “Antibiotics cure bacterial infections.” Answer: “Antibiotics cure bacterial infections.” (present retained).
Task 6. Write one sentence using present perfect + past simple correctly. Answer guidance: e.g. “Cities have grown denser since 2000, and the 2015 housing plan failed to match demand.”
Task 7. Tense-only proofread of your last essay: list every verb. Answer: self-checked; each switch must match a legal reason.
Task 8. Timed summary with tense-fidelity check. Answer: self-assessed.
Common errors and corrections
Perfect-everywhere. Present perfect as default — reset to present simple for general truths. Example drift. Past examples dragging paragraphs into past — contain in one paragraph. Summary “improvements”. Changing passage tense — fidelity first. No proofread. Verbs-only pass catches drift content-reading misses.
Independent task and self-check
Rewrite one old essay changing nothing but tenses. Compare: count corrections; log your top two drift patterns; re-test weekly until zero.
Study sequence with the book
Week 1: overview + SWT/essay strategy chapters; tense map memorised. Weeks 2–3: chapter-by-chapter reference with the hundreds of targeted exercises, one tense family at a time. Week 4: mixed timed tasks with verbs-only proofreading; compare against models for tense decisions.
FAQs
Which tense matters most? Present simple (essay default) and the perfect/simple distinction. Can I use future tense? For consequences and proposals — sparingly and consistently. Does tense affect my Reading score? Only via summary quality; SWT cross-counts, and tense errors damage it. How do I stop mid-essay drift? One tense per paragraph, set in planning. Is memorizing rules enough? No — the book’s exercise volume exists because tense choice is a habit, built by repetition.
The matching book
Mastering Tenses for PTE Academic Writing by Jobin Thomas (Jobins Training, 2025) gives the task overviews plus a full grammar reference — parts of speech through verb-tense chapters — with hundreds of targeted exercises, answers and explanations. Use this article for the decision rules; use the book for the repetition volume.
Keep practising with Mastering Tenses for PTE Academic Writing
Enjoyed this guide? Mastering Tenses for PTE Academic Writing takes you further, with deeper explanations, more practice tasks and complete model answers. Continue practising with the full book →
Sources and editorial note
Grammar-as-enabling-skill framing, task overviews and book structure verified against full EPUB text extraction (~248,000 characters); introduction and guide chapters read. Demonstrations and drills newly written and labelled; no lengthy verbatim reproduction. Recheck current PTE rules on Pearson’s official site before test day. British English throughout.