discovered that ..

[bee]

Hello,

i came across with this sentence and wondered why the tense is not consistent.

"Question: I recently discovered a technique that helps memorizing vocabulary"

my questions

when you say "I recently discovered/found/uncovered [the obejct] is/Verb-s/Verb-es ... "

1. Is it a rule to use past tense for discovered/found/uncovered ?
2. Is it a rule to use present tense after [the object]; or it depends on the object/event

Thanks in advance.

[StaceyKoprince]

Not grammatically correct (your first sentence). You'd have to say "I recently discovered a technique that helps to memorize vocabulary" (and even that's a little clunky). (Where did you read this?)

You can use any tense you want for discovered, etc - it just depends what you're trying to say. If you say "she discovers," you mean she's doing it right now, which is not all that common just from a practical point of view. It's also not to common to say that someone will discover something in future (at least, not on the GMAT or in the paper or other typical places). Imagine a novel, though - "She walks into the room and discovers her cat playing with her dog!" or "She will discover, sadly, that her husband is having an affair."

You'll usually see it in past or present perfect simply because, with this meaning, we're usually talking about something that has already happened or that started in the past.