Shifts in Verb Tense

NEC FACET Center

Recognizing Tense

Although most people do not need to know the names of the more complex verb tenses, recognizing they exist and seeing the differences in their meaning will help writers avoid writing problems.

Present Perfect

Present Perfect: The antibiotic has been effective, and the patient is now well.

Shows an action that started in the past and is continuing into the present.

Past Perfect

Past Perfect: The antibiotic had been effective by the time the semester started.

Shows an action that was completed before another past action (before school started)

Future Perfect

Future Perfect: The antibiotic will have been effective before the semester starts.

Shows an action that will have taken place before another action yet to come.

Reminder Remember you don’t need to know all

the tense names, but you should learn to recognize inconsistent use of these tenses.

We call this inconsistent verb use an unnecessary “shift in tense” and consider it an error.

Changing Tenses

Do not change verb tense in your writing unless you must do so to show a change in time.

May

July June

April

March

A Justified Tense Shift

This afternoon I will see one new movie. Last week I saw two new movies.

Shifting from future tense to past tense reflects the changing viewing times.

Unjustified Tense Shift

We walk down Greenwood as the jazz bands began to play.

Can you identify the shift in tense?

Unjustified Tense Shift

We walk down Greenwood as the jazz bands began to play.

Walk = present tense began = past tense

The Shift Corrected

We walk down Greenwood as the jazz bands begin to play. (present tense)

We walked down Greenwood as the jazz bands began to play. (past tense)

Look for the Tense Shift

Steam rose from the coffee mug. Charlie snatches his hand away as the sides of the mug become even hotter.

The Tense Shift

Steam rose from the coffee mug. Charlie snatches his hand away as the sides of the mug become even hotter.

These two words shift from past tense used in the rest of the passage to present tense.

The Tense Shift Revised

Steam rose from the coffee mug. Charlie snatches his hand away as the sides of the mug become even hotter.

These two words shift from past tense used in the rest of the passage to present tense.

snatched

became

Look for the Tense Shift As Mary looks for a

knife in the kitchen, Larry blows out the candles and ran his finger through the frosting.

The Tense Shift As Mary looks for a knife in

the kitchen, Larry blows out the candles and ran his finger through the frosting.

This verb shifts from present tense used in most of the passage to past tense.

The Tense Shift Revised As Mary looks for a knife in

the kitchen, Larry blows out the candles and ran his finger through the frosting.

This verb shifts from present tense used in most of the passage to past tense.

runs

Look for the Tense Shift

Dana swabbed the inside of her cheek with a Q-tip, smears the cells on a glass slide, and then looked at them through the microscope.

The Tense Shift Revised

Dana swabbed the inside of her cheek with a Q-tip, smears the cells on a glass slide, and then looked at them through the microscope.

smeared

Look for the Tense Shift

In the neighborhood, the kids play stickball in the street, they sawed off broom handles for bats and borrow garbage can lids for bases.

The Tense Shift

In the neighborhood, the kids play stickball in the street; they sawed off broom handles for bats, and borrow garbage can lids for bases.

Look for the Tense Shift

To get a clear picture, Larry jiggles the tuning knob, adjusts the horizontal hold, and pointed the antenna out the window.

The Tense Shift

To get a clear picture, Larry jiggles the tuning knob, adjusts the horizontal hold, and pointed the antenna out the window.

s

Look for Tense Shifts When Tronic Center had a clearance sale, Eric

decided to buy a DVR. He thought he could simply plug the machine in and start recording his favorite programs. However, when he drove home, he discovers that connecting the dVR could be complicated and confusing. The directions seemed to have been written for an electrical engineer. After three hours of frustration, Eric gave up and calls a TV repair shop for help.

The Tense Shifts When Tronic Center had a clearance sale, Eric

decided to buy a DVR. He thought he could simply plug the machine in and start taping his favorite programs. However, when he drove home, he discovers that connecting the DVR could be complicated and confusing. The directions seemed to have been written for an electrical engineer. After three hours of frustration, Eric gave up and calls a TV repair shop for help.

These 2 words shift from past to present tense.

Remember . . .

When you cut out inconsistent verbs, you eliminate possible confusion and make your writing smoother.