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.

The present tense describes what's happening now. Depuis is used with the present tense to say how long something has been happening. Learn how to form sentences using the present tense.

The perfect tense is used to express things that have happened in the past in general. It is the most commonly used past tense in German. It is used in letters, emails and spoken German.