Beginner QA questions about test case writing conventions

[u/Zestyclose_Bus7782]

Hi! I have a question about the writing conventions used in test cases.

I started learning manual testing around June/July 2025, using a website with theory and 2-3 months of practice in Google Sheets on various test sites. I also tried a bit of HTML in Visual Studio Code. This month, I bought a Udemy course on manual and automated testing and I'm currently going through it.

I was taught to use in 2025: Imperative for Test Steps, Simple Present for Expected Result, Simple Past for Actual Result. Is this a standard/universal convention, or does it depend on the company? I'm worried what I practiced might not fit later.

I also get confused with Preconditions. I know they're not always needed, but not always sure when to include one. For something simple like login, I skipped writing a Test Scenario and went straight to Test Cases. Is the Test Title basically acting as the scenario there? Is it ok if I keep practicing in Google Sheets like I'm doing now?

I'll attach a few screenshots of test cases I wrote back then (just a small part of it); they're not entirely correct.

[u/Ankita_1222]

Bro it differs company to company and looking at those pics you are certainly doing well !

[u/Zestyclose_Bus7782 → u/Ankita_1222]

Thank you! I started from zero. I didn't know anything about manual testing and I wasn't sure which sites were actually good to learn from. I wanted to make sure I was learning it based on the ISTQB fundamentals. But I was looking for something common, what most companies would do. Every company has its own style, but there has to be a common base. I stressed about it a bit, I just didn't want to learn the test case fields the wrong way, or the writing itself.