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…