Verb Tense
Consistency
A famous saying states
GOALS:
Identify consistent
and inconsistent
verbs in sentences
Understand what it
means to keep your
verb tense consistent
Practice tense
consistency in writing
an evaluation
CONSISTENCY
INCONSISTENCY
One verb, different tenses
eat has eaten
eating will eat
ate had eaten
Verb Tenses
PAST PRESENT FUTURE
PASSED PASS WILL PASS
WROTE WRITE WILL WRITE
RAN RUN WILL RUN
Three Main Verb Forms
PAST PRESENT FUTURE
Simple past Simple present Simple future
- action happened and is - action goes on now: - action will happen:
SIMPLE over:
I sat
I sit I will sit
Past perfect Present perfect Future perfect
- action happened before - action happened and may - action will be considered
something happened in the still be going on: in the future, by which time
PERFECT past: I have sat it will have already
I had sat happened:
I will have sat
Past Progressive Present progressive Future progressive
PROGRESSIVE - action was in progress in - action is in progress right - action will be in progress
the past: now: in the future:
I was sitting I am sitting I will be sitting
Each of the mentioned tenses denotes a specific time
for an action or event to take place. Writers should be careful
to use the exact tense needed to describe, narrate, or explain.
5
Past Present Future In general
4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5
4.5
4 Do not switch from one tense to
3.5 another unless the timing of
3
3 3 3 3 an action demands that you do.
2.5
2
2 2 2 2 Keep verb tense consistent in
1.5 sentences,
1 paragraphs, and
0.5
essays.
0
Sentences Paragraphs Essays Story/Book
Verb tense consistency on the sentence level
Incorrect Correct
Verb tense consistency on the paragraph level
Present Tense
Past Tense
Verb tense consistency on the essay level
1. Use present tense when writing essays about
your own ideas
factual topics
the action in a specific movie, play, or book
NOTE: When quoting
from a work, maintain
the present tense in
your own writing,
while keeping the
original tense of the
quoted material.
EXAMPLE
(quoted material is
shown in blue)
Verb tense consistency on the essay level
2. Use past tense when writing about
past events
completed studies or findings, arguments presented in scientific literature
Note the justified use of present tense in the last sentence (shown in
blue).
Verb tense consistency on the essay level
3. Use future tense when writing about
an event that will occur in the future.
Remember
Change tense ONLY when something in the content of your essay
demands that you do so for clarity.
Note how the following example incorporates tense change as needed to clarify several time periods.
RECAP!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ2v9RcHDXI
Lets do it!
What tenses are ALL the verbs in?
Past, present, or future?
Past, present, or future?
It was a bitter cold night for speed skating,
but the three teams gave their all or the
regional competition. Most surprising was the
performance of De La Salle Zobel School
which outskated the other two teams in every
category. They were the easy winners.
Past, present, or future?
It was a bitter cold night for speed skating,
but the three teams gave their all or the
regional competition. Most surprising was the
performance of De La Salle Zobel School
which outskated the other two teams in every
category. They were the easy winners.
There is consistency: all the verbs are in the past.
What is the problem in this passage?
Johnson raced down the court. He stops dead,
raises those incredibly long arms, and sinks the
ball slow-motion into the basket. He scored 33
points before the final quarter ended.
What is the problem in this passage?
Johnson raced down the court. He stops dead,
raises those incredibly long arms, and sinks the
ball slow-motion into the basket. He scored 33
points before the final quarter ended.
There is no consistency: some the verbs are in
the past and some are in the present tense.
How do we fix this passage?
Practice!
NOTEBOOK: Recognizing Shifts in Sentences
Check the following sentences for confusing shifts in tense. If the tense of each underlined verb
expresses the time relationship accurately, write S (satisfactory). If a shift in tense is not
appropriate, write U (unsatisfactory) and make necessary changes. In most cases with an
inappropriate shift, there is more than one way to correct the inconsistency.
___ 1. Thousands of people will see the art exhibit by the time it closes.
___ 2. As Sarah puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rang.
___ 3. Everyone hopes the plan would work.
___ 4. Harry wants to show his friends the photos he took last summer.
___ 5. The boy insisted that he has paid for the candy bars.
Practice!
NOTEBOOK: Recognizing Shifts in Sentences
Check the following sentences for confusing shifts in tense. If the tense of each underlined verb
expresses the time relationship accurately, write S (satisfactory). If a shift in tense is not
appropriate, write U (unsatisfactory) and make necessary changes. In most cases with an
inappropriate shift, there is more than one way to correct the inconsistency.
_S_ 1. Thousands of people will see the art exhibit by the time it closes.
_U_ 2. As Sarah puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rang.
(change rang to rings to illustrate ongoing action)
_U_ 3. Everyone hopes the plan would work. (change hopes to hoped)
_S_ 4. Harry wants to show his friends the photos he took last summer.
_U_ 5. The boy insisted that he has paid for the candy bars.
(change has to had)
Crossover Dyad
1. Find a pair; one is A and the
other is B.
2. Talk about what you did today
and decide which part will you
put in your notebook.
3. (Having a same situation/story)
A will write what you did today
in past tense and B will write it
in present tense.
Example:
A Past Tense B Present Tense
I discovered that I had a blue I discover that I have a blue
dot growing on my hand. I went dot growing on my hand. I go
to the doctor and she said I to the doctor and she says I
needed to stop eating so many need to stop eating so many
blue M&Ms, Because of that, I blue M&Ms, Because of that,
switched to red M&Ms. The I switch to red M&Ms. The
next day, a red dot started next day, a red dot starts
growing on my hand. Oops!
growing on my hand. Oops!
More practice!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/
en32tens-game-tenses-treasure-hunt
Were we able to
meet our goals?
Identify consistent and
inconsistent verbs in
sentences
Understand what it
means to keep your verb
tense consistent
Practice tense
consistency in writing an
evaluation
Recap!
SOURCES:
https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/tenseconsistency.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYYNfpRv_Wg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ2v9RcHDXI
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/22/49
