Level: Pre-intermediate and above

Brief description:

This unit is designed to raise student’s awareness of the correct use of verb tenses in business email writing.

KEY CONCEPT:

Accuracy in writing: Which verb tenses do you frequently use in email writing?

                                    What kind of mistakes in verb tenses do you make?

Purposes in writing: In what situations or contexts do you use the verb tenses?

An inconsistent writer: Do the verb tenses in your email or business letter tell a correct process or sequence of an event?

Conventions in writing: Are your sentences easy to understand when you write about a process or event?

Style in writing: Which tenses are most useful and common in business email writing?

Let’s begin the adventure!!!! …

The tense structure of English is complicated because it enables a writer to communicate complex time structures without confusing the reader or audience.

When writing about a process, project or development that started in the past you must be very careful to make sure that the flow of ideas is clear. An essential element to this is always making the period of time you are talking about clear to the audience. Tenses are an important consideration. When preparing it may be helpful to make a flow graph and use it to check your tense usage.

Writing Practice:

Read this article and fill in the chart on the following page.

Doi Moi and Vietnamese Agriculture

Currently the Vietnamese economy is one of the most dynamic in Asia. This is due to the Vietnamese government’s ‘open door’ policy called Doi Moi, which has been the driving force of the economy since its introduction in 1988. Doi Moi has liberalized the government-run economy and given the population a greater control of the means of production and greater freedom to conduct business. The enormous increases in productivity that have resulted have been especially true of the agricultural sector.

Doi Moi was introduced because of a disastrous pre-harvest period in 21 provinces in 1988. This led to a government policy of developing the economic abilities of peasant farmers. The collectivisation of labour and land was stopped and peasants were contracted to cultivate allotted pieces of land. This guaranteed long-term stability for the peasant economy.

Doi Moi was the final stage of a long process of agricultural reform. Land reform in 1955 had liberated peasants from feudalism and had redistributed land more equally. The average land-holding, however, was only 0.4 hectares, so to increase the production capacity of each family the government introduced cooperativisation. After 1960 cooperatives were expanded. In the 1970s, however, it became clear that large cooperatives were uneconomic and many of them began to disintegrate.

When agricultural production reached a crisis in the late 1970s a system of production contracts, which had emerged in Hai Phong and Vinh Phu, was introduced nation-wide. Although this policy mobilised individual effort and slowed economic decline, the 1988 crisis necessitated further reform. So, Doi Moi was introduced.

The enormous increase in agricultural production that Doi Moi created has continued to the present. Crop production has been increasing rapidly and Vietnam has become a major rice exporter. The domestic animal herd has grown and the amount of land under cultivation has been expanded.

At present new strains of rice and new breeds of domestic animals are being introduced into Vietnam and agricultural expertise is being exchanged with many countries. Knowledge of the strengths and failings of modern techniques and technologies through contact with the outside world will enable Vietnam to adapt these to local conditions. Doi Moi in agriculture has been a great success and will undoubtedly continue to stimulate Vietnam’s development in the future.

For each of the 6 paragraphs in the article indicate which years are talked about and which tenses are used.

(P = Present PP = Present Perfect Pa = Past PaP = Past Perfect F = Future)

The first paragraph has been done for you. Then answer the questions below.

Note – Now is 1998.

1) Why is the past perfect used in paragraph 3?

2) Why does the past perfect change to the past simple in paragraph 3?

3) Why does the writer use the past perfect again in paragraph 4?

4) Why is the present perfect used in paragraph 5?

5) What observations can you make about the structure of the article?

6) How does the tense system of English reflect this structure?

Glossary:

• Dynamic (adj.): energetic, active (Năng động)

• Policy (noun): a plan of action done by a government, a group of people or in a business that can influence a decision and other matters (Chính sách)

• To liberalize (verb): to make a system, law, or attitude less strict (Tự do hóa)

• To conduct (verb): to guide, control or manage doing a task or activity (Điều hành)

• Enormous (adj.): great in size, amount or degree (To lớn, khổng lồ)

• Sector (noun): a distinct part of a society, industry or economy (Ngành nghề, lĩnh vực kinh tế, khu vực)

• Disastrous (adj.): extremely bad or terrible; very unfortunate (Thảm họa, thất bát)

• Peasant (noun): an agricultural worker who owns or rents a small part or piece of land (Nông dân)

• Collectivization (noun): the process of forming communities (groups) where property and resources are owned by the group, the community or by the government and not the individuals (Công hữu hóa, quốc hữu hóa)

• To cultivate (verb): to raise or produce; to grow or prepare to grow (plants) (Trồng trọt)

• To guarantee (verb): to promise or to make sure of an outcome, result or condition (Đảm bảo)

• Stability (noun): the quality or state of being steady and not changing or being disturbed in any way (Tính bền vững)

• Reform (noun): a change done to improve or make something become better (Cải tổ)

• Feudalism (noun): a political and economic order in which people of higher status (lords) overrule those of lower positions (vassals) (Chế độ phong kiến)

• To disintegrate (verb): to break into smaller components or pieces (Tan rã)

• Crisis (noun): a situation that has reached a very difficult or dangerous point (Khủng hoảng)

• Nationwide (adv.) throughout the whole nation or country (Trên toàn quốc)

• To mobilize (verb): to put into action; to make something move (Huy độn)

• To necessitate (verb): to make something necessary or required (Đòi hỏi)

• Exporter (noun): a person who sends goods or commodity to a foreign country (Quốc gia xuất khẩu)

• To expand (verb): to increase the size, volume or quantity of something (Mở rộng)

• Strain (noun): a kind or type (of plant or animal) (Giống, loài)

• Domestic (animal) (adj.): animal which is tamed, not wild ((Loài vật) nuôi)

• Undoubtedly (adv.): accepted without question (Chắc chắn, không nghi ngờ gì)

• To stimulate (verb): to increase or heighten the activity of something (Kích thích)

WELL- DONE! You have fulfilled another mission in the adventure to master Business English. See you in the next lesson.

Answers:  

From this we can make some clear observations.

The Structure: You can see that the time structure of this article is like a ‘V’ on its side. This is a common way to approach a topic when writing a report explaining a situation or decision or presenting a topic or issue in English.

As the main focus of this topic is in the past, the structure is more complicated. Explaining the history requires talking about the ‘past in the past’. Projecting the topic into the future requires relating it to the present first.

Past Perfect: The focus of the article is 1988. When describing the history of the focus it is necessary to use the Past Perfect so that the reader is clear that the writer is referring to the ‘past in the past’. As you can see in paragraph 3, the article then reverts to the past simple when talking about the same period. Once the ‘past in the past’ is made clear by use of the past perfect it is not necessary to continue using it. You can see from the two times the past perfect is used (paragraphs 3 and 4) that we use it in English only when we jump back in time. If the writer proceeds forward in time (paragraphs 3, 4 and 5) the past simple is sufficient, even if the time is before that of the focus (1988).

Present Perfect: If you look at the columns 1988-1996 and 1988-1997 you can see that two different tenses are used for these periods. The verbs that fall under 1988-1996 are finished actions that have no relation to the present, so are in the past simple. Those under 1988-1997 connect the past to the present. For these English requires the present perfect. This can be for one of the following reasons: a) The action is still in progress. For example: ‘Crop production has been increasing....’ (paragraph 5) b) The result of a finished action or process is still relevant. For example: ‘Doi Moi.......has given the population......’ (paragraph 1)

c) The period of time connects to the present. For example: ‘The enormous increase .... has continued to the present’ (paragraph 5)

Note: Although in the article on Doi Moi the present perfect is used when going both back from the present and forward to the present, this is not always necessary.

This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).