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Verb Tense Error. Pet Peeve #42. Verbs: an explanation. There are many classifications of verbs, different types, different tenses, different uses… There are helping and main verbs - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Verb Tense Error
Pet Peeve #42
Verbs: an explanationThere are many classifications of verbs, different
types, different tenses, different uses…There are helping and main verbs• Helping verbs are mainly used to make some form
of a verb or to show emphasis (they are: am, are, be, been, being, can, could, did, do, does, had, has, have, is, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, was, were, will and would)
• Main verbs may stand alone or have a helping verb with them
Verbs: still more explanationThere are also transitive and intransitive verbs• Transitive verbs have a direct object behind them to
tell what or to whom the action was done• Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object. There
are two kinds of intransitive verbs: linking and complete.
Verb Tenses There are six different tenses: past, present, and
future; past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect• Past perfect: I had edited, we had edited, you had
edited• Past tense: I edited, we edited, you edited• Present perfect: I have edited, we have edited,
you have edited• Present tense: I edit, we edit, you edit• Future perfect: I shall have edited, we shall have
edited, you will have edited• Future tense: I shall edit, we shall edit, you will
edit
Tenses Chart
Tense Basic Form Progressive Form
Present walk am walking
Past walked was walking
Future will walk will be walking
Present perfect have walked have been walking
Past perfect had walked had been walking
Future perfect will have walked will have been walking
Sequencing of tensesHere is the time order of the tenses from
furthest back in time to the furthest in the future.• Past Perfect Past Present Perfect
Present Future Perfect Future
Will vs. ShallShall is used in first-person singular (I) or plural (we) in
the future and future perfect tenses. • I shall go running today. We shall trade places after
lunch.Will is used all other places.• He will go skydiving next week. They will eat out
tonight.
Tense Errors (Verbs: That’s What’s Happening)
Tense errors look at the verb in three major categories: those annoying verbs, the illogical switch of tenses, and the conditional verb.
Most of these tense errors are easy to spot as we tend not to make too many of these errors in daily speech, unlike some of the previous errors. So they should just plain “sound” wrong to you when you read it.
A good thing to know for this test is that if there is no pronoun error, or major S-V-A error, check out the tenses of the verbs and figure out if they are okay.
Tense Errors: Annoying Verbs
You all know these verbs. They are the ones that make us say things like “He was hung by his thumbs…or was it hanged by his thumbs…no I am pretty sure he was hung…or hanged.”
They make us wonder when we “lie” or “lay”, “swam” or “swum”.Unfortunately, there is no easy trick to remember these verbs. They are
just that annoying. All you can do is learn and remember…and sound it out.There is a handout I gave you with a list of the most common annoying
verbs.
Tense Errors: Illogical ShiftsAs Mr. Spock would say “These changes in verb tenses are most illogical.”
There is no concrete rule that says you have to use the same tense throughout a sentence, but there must, must, be logic behind the switch. Use past tense when talking about the past, use present tense when talking about the present, and make the progression from one to the other logical and obvious.
But for the most part you will want to keep the verb tense consistent.
You will see one or two bad tense switches on the test and your best weapon against these evil questions is LOGIC! If the sentence is talking about last summer, but uses a present tense or future tense verb in the sentence…then it is probably wrong. Check the meaning of the sentences.
Tense Errors: On one Condition
The conditional is a form of verb we use to indicate uncertain terms, something that relies on something else to exist.
Memorize the conditional formula “If…were…would”While it might “sound” okay to say “If I was supreme goddess, I would turn
the moon to cheese” but it violates the one and only conditional rule of “If…were…would”
Learn it, love it, live it.
Verb Tense Grammar Work Ch. 11, pg. 131• Complete 12 out of the 19
exercises Ch. 15, pgs. 194 – 196• Complete 2 exercises between
exercises 4 - 6
Practice Questions…
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