One’s tense will vary depending on what one is trying to convey within their paper or section of their paper. For example, the tense may change between the methods section and the discussion section.

Woman in red cardigan: People do get their tenses of a verb confused. Making sure that the verb is in the same tense all the way through a document or a letter or an email. If you read it to ...

The past tense is used for things that have already happened. He was sticky. The present tense is used when something is happening now or when something happens regularly. He is sticky.