Verb Tenses as a Tool of Text Construction in English: A Functional Approach

Abstract

The article examines the functional role of English verb tenses in the process of text construction. The main aim of the study is to show that verb tenses function not only as a grammatical category but also as an important resource in text organisation, ensuring logical sequencing and expressing communicative intent. The study analyses the role of verb tenses in the formation of textual cohesion and coherence based on Systemic Functional Linguistics and discourse analysis approaches. In particular, it demonstrates how tense selection in different types of texts—especially narrative and academic styles—influences the presentation of information and its interpretation by the reader. The analysis is based on a corpus-based qualitative approach and investigates the impact of tense selection on discourse organisation at both micro (sentence and inter-sentential) and macro (textual and genre) levels. The results show that verb tenses do not only express temporal relations but also function as key discourse resources that ensure textual structural integrity, regulate information flow, and define genre distinctions. At the same time, inappropriate selection of tense forms may reduce textual clarity and communicative effectiveness. From this perspective, studying verb tenses within a functional framework is of significant importance for both theoretical linguistics and practical language use.