VERB TENSEMrs. NicholsEnglish II Pre-AP

CONSISTENCY OF VERB TENSEPAST PERFECT TENSEHISTORICAL PRESENT

WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE

Consistency of Verb Tense

The tense of verbs must remain consistent in the sentence. If the sentence starts in present tense, it should stay in the present tense. If it begins in the past, it should remain in the past.

EX – Because she sang so beautifully, she wins the contest.

Sang is past tense while wins is present. We need to change wins to won.

Write the corrected sentences in your notes.

The leprechaun walked to school, and on the way he drops his pot o’ gold.

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The concert finally ended, but all the taxis are busy.

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The rhino has some good points, but he also had some tough skin.

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The man tries to rescue the hamster, but he was not successful.

Answers

1. The leprechaun walked to school, and on the way he dropped his pot o’ gold.

2. The concert finally ended, but all the taxis were busy.

3. The rhino has some good points, but he also has some tough skin.

4. The man tries to rescue the hamster, but he is not successful.

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense always uses the helping verb had with the main verb. This tense is used to indicate a time that precedes another time mentioned in the sentence.

EX—I had seen the movie before I saw Janet at the store.

The action of seeing the movie occurred before the action of seeing Janet. The first action to happen requires past perfect tense. The last action to happen requires past tense. Using these two tenses keeps the time reference clear in written English.

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Until last Friday, we thought we lost the unicorn.

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By the time Matilda left, Bruce ate the entire cake.

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David probably saw the error long before he corrected it.

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After finding her absent, I knew that she went to the Beyonce concert with Devlin.

Answers

1. Until last Friday, we had thought we lost the book.

2. By the time Kelly left, Mary had eaten the entire cake.

3. David probably had seen the error long before he corrected it.

4. After finding her absent, I knew that she had gone to the concert.

Historical Present Tense

Part of the sentence may be in the past tense, but another part might be in the present if that second part is something that is always true.

For example, we know as a fact that light travels faster than sound. Since this is always true, we state the fact in the present tense, regardless of what happens in the rest of the sentence.

Example of historical present tenseIncorrect: His research was based on the

concept that light traveled faster than sound.

Correct: His research was based on the concept that light travels faster than sound.

Present Tense When Discussing Literature Another time we consistently use the

present tense is when discussing literature: the accepted convention is to discuss the actions in fiction in terms of present tense.

Incorrect: The main character of the story disregarded his father’s wishes.

Correct: The main character of the story disregards his father’s wishes.

Assessment of what you’ve learned: Write the corrected sentences in your notes.

By the time I left, Baxter ate the entire wheel of cheese.

Assessment of what you’ve learned: Write the corrected sentences in your notes.

Through experience Janet learned that hot dogs and ice cream produced obesity.

Assessment of what you’ve learned: Write the corrected sentences in your notes.

In the novel, the hero stressed his love for the woman.

Assessment of what you’ve learned: Write the corrected sentences in your notes.

Jerry said that Newton’s third law of physics stated that for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction.

Answers

1. By the time I left, Baxter had eaten the entire wheel of cheese.

2. Through experience Janet learned that hot dogs and ice cream produce obesity.

3. In the novel, the hero stresses his love for the woman.

4. Jerry said that Newton’s third law of physics states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENTMrs. NicholsEnglish II Pre-AP

SUBJECT FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONAL PHRASESUBJECT FOLLOWING THE EXPLETIVE THERE

SUBJECT AFTER VERBCOMPOUND SUBJECTS JOINED BY OR OR NOR

Subject-Verb Agreement

The concept of subject-verb agreement is relatively simple: the subject and verb of each sentence must agree with each other in number (singular subject, singular verb, etc.)

Common errors occur with a simple subject followed by a prepositional

phrase with a subject following the expletive there with the subject following the verb with a compound subject whose parts are joined

by or or nor

Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject followed by prepositional phrase Singular subject must be followed by

singular verb (verb ending with s) Plural subject must be followed by plural

verb (verb with no s) Common prepositions – of, with, at, on,

for, to, between, beneath, below, above, along, against One of the boats are sinking. One of the boats is sinking.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject following a prepositional phrase

One of the boats are sinking.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject following a prepositional phrase

The man with two platypi are walking down the street.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Deciding whether or not the verb agrees with the subject is sometimes difficult because of the nature and placement of the subject.

Incorrect: There is always two men on guard at this post.

Correct: There are always two men on guard at this post.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject following the expletive there

There goes the three moose of the mountain.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject following the expletive there

There were never a harder decision to make.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject following the expletive there

There was only two pirates at the door to greet us.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The third type of error deals with the placement of the subject after the verb.

Example: Down the road in a bright red car came the two girls.

Incorrect: Far away from the rest of the crowd stands the three men.

Correct: Far away from the rest of the crowd stand the three men.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject after the verb

Beneath those pictures on the wall are the artist’s name.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Subject after the verb

Around the corner from my house lives the Lord Voledmort.

Subject-Verb Agreement

When a compound subject is joined by or or nor, we look at the part of the subject that sits closest to the verb to determine singular or plural.

Example: Neither the girl nor the two boys want to go eat breakfast.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Compound subjects joined by or or nor

Either Jane or Sally (seem, seems) to be weirder than usual.

Correct these sentences in your notes.Compound subjects joined by or or nor

The lantern or the street lights on the road (is, are) shining brightly.