Dear reader
Here we explain with example
Role of tense in
determining cause and effect
Rule: Causes come before effects. An event
that takes place before another event can be its cause but not its effect.
Often it is the tense of the two given sentences that helps us determine which
of them occurred earlier. Adverbs of time also like before, next week, now,
then, today, tomorrow, since, etc. also play a crucial role.
Examples
1.
Event A: Today, the
Foreign Ministers of countries M and N decided to take steps to improve their
bilateral relations.
Event B: Next week,
the Foreign Secretaries of countries P and Q will work out further steps to
improve their relationship.
Event A is in the
present tense and event B is in the future tense. So A, which comes before B,
can be the cause of B, but not its effect. This is additionally clear from the
adverbs of time ‘today’ and ‘next week.’ Since ‘today’ comes before ‘next
week,’ A can be the cause of B but B cannot be the cause of A.
2.
Event A: Prices of
smart phones personal have come down.
Event B: Some children
are showing keen interest in handling smart phones.
Event A is in the
present perfect and event B is in the present continuous. This means that A has
already occurred and B is still occurring. So A can be the cause of B, but B
cannot be the cause of A.
3.
Event A: The price of
silver has gone up in the local market.
Event B: India has won
several prizes in design of silver ornaments.
Both the events are in
the present prefect tense. Here we cannot say which of them occurred earlier
Rule: An event in the past tense
will come before events in the present and future, and an event in the present
will come before an event in the future.
Exception to this rule
Events in the simple present tense
are often universal generalizations. Such sentences can be the cause of
sentences even in the past tense, given that the reason for something that
happened in the past is the fact that that thing has always happened! You can
see that the clause ‘such a thing has always happened’ is in the present tense
but it still the cause of something that happened in the past.
Example
Event A: Horses run
fast (simple present tense).
Event B: Rana Pratap’s
horse outran its chasers and took his master to safety (simple past tense).
Here B should have been the cause of
A given that events in the past tense take place before events in the present
tense. But as is clear from the example, events in the simple present tense can
be the cause of events in the past.
Rule: A cause and effect relationship can
exist between events in any of the three tenses. There can be a cause-effect
relationship between two events that are both in the past tense, or both in the
present tense, or even both in the future.
Cause and effect
between two events in the future tense
Event A: I shall be
finishing my work at six in the evening tomorrow
Event B: I shall be
free at six tomorrow evening.
Cause and effect
between two events in the past
Event A: I had
finished my work at six in the evening yesterday.
Event B: I was free at
six in the evening yesterday
Cause and effect
between two events in the present tense
Event A: I finish my
work at six in the evening.
Event B: I am free at
six in the evening
Some illustrations of
the role of tense in determining cause-effect
1.
Event A: Authorities
have ordered the removal of all diesel vehicles 10 or more years old off the
capital city's streets.
Event B: People
participated eagerly in the odd-even vehicle number scheme in Delhi
Event A is in the
present perfect tense and event B in the simple past. This tells us that both
the events have already taken place but that event A could still be the cause
of B.
2.
Event A: India, which
has been for hundreds of years an unskilled labour surplus market, poses a
special challenge to governments and non-government organizations engaged in
formulation of labour empowerment policies and execution of labour empowerment
projects.
Event B: Poverty in
India is long-standing, widespread and crippling, and it has a differentiated
nature across regions, social structures and economic classes.
Both the events are in
the simple present tense. So we will have to look elsewhere for clues.
3.
Event A:
Simplification of green norms is an important aspect of the ease of doing
business—one of the focus areas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Event B: The
environment ministry has proposed simplifying some green norms and entirely
doing away with others in a move aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business
and spurring the housing-for-all program.
Event A is in the
simple present tense whereas event B is in the present perfect. This suggests
that the event described in event B is already done whereas the one in event A
is a general statement, i.e. not a one-time event. Thus it is clear that the
generalization given in event A can be the cause of the one-time event given in
event B.
4.
Event A: The government of India has ordered a nationwide review
of the 35000-cr program of MGNREGA to see if it meets the objective of
generating jobs and creating durable assets.
Event B: There are a large number of incomplete works and lack
of awareness among many households regarding their entitlements.
Given that statement A is in the present perfect and statement B
in the simple present tense, B can be the cause of A but A cannot be the cause
of B. This is because the simple present is used for making generalizations
whereas the present perfect indicates a specific act that has already occurred.
And a generalization should precede a specification, not follow it.
5.
Event A: The impact of
Brexit (UK quitting the European Union) on India would be relatively subdued
because of India’s lower export exposure to UK
Event B: The major
area of relationship between India and UK is trade.
Event A is in the
simple future tense whereas event B is in the simple present. This suggests
that A could be the effect of B but that B could not be the effect of A.
6.
Event A: India has officially joined the Missile Technology
Control Regime (MTCR) as a full member, three days after its failed NSG bid due
to stiff opposition from China
Event B: China, which opposed India's entry into the Nuclear
Suppliers Group at the just-concluded Seoul plenary, is not a member of
34-nation MTCR
Event A is in the present perfect tense and event B is in the
simple present. This means B, which is a more generalized statement owing to
its tense, can be the cause of B, which refers to an event that has already
taken place.
7.
Event A: The number of
abusers of medicinal prescriptions like cough syrups has been growing in India
at an alarming rate
Event B: All cough
syrups contain opium and are sold in India without prescription
Event A is in the present
continuous tense and event B in the simple present. As such, tense does not
give us a clear indication of a causal relationship between the two events. So
we will have to look for other clues.
8.
Event A: The window
for a rate cut has been closed at least in the near future, say, the next
quarter.
Event B: Retail
inflation numbers reflected in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) have moved north
enough to worry the RBI.
Event A employs the
present perfect verb ‘has been closed,’ and event B too employs the present
perfect ‘have moved.’ Thus tense will not reveal if there is a cause-effect
relationship between the two events
