Maintaining Consistent Verb Tenses

What is a verb tense?

• A word that modifies an adjective

• A word that connects clauses

• A word that refers to an action

• A word that describes a noun

Which of the following is an example of a verb in the past tense?

• I am walking to work

• I will walk to work

• I walk to work

• I have walked to work

Why is it important to keep verb tenses consistent in writing?

• To make the writing more colorful

• To avoid confusing the reader

• To increase the word count

• To use more complex sentences

Identify the inconsistency in the sentence: 'During the movie, Sam stood up and then drops his popcorn.'

• Movie should be movies

• Stood should be stand

• Popcorn should be popcorns

• Drops should be dropped

How can you correct the sentence: 'If the club limited its membership, it will have to raise its dues'?

• Change 'raise' to 'raises'

• Change 'will have' to 'would have'

• Change 'limited' to 'limits'

• Change 'its' to 'it's'

In the sentence 'The instructor explains the diagram to the students, the asked questions during the lecture,' what is the inconsistency?

• Diagram should be diagrams

• Asked should be ask

• Lecture should be lectures

• Explains should be explained

Which of the following sentences has consistent verb tenses?

• As Barbara puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rang.

• If the club limited its membership, it will have to raise its dues.

• Yesterday we walked to the school, but later we rode the bus home.

• About noon, the sky darkened, a breeze sprang up, and a low rumble announces the approaching storm.

In the paragraph, what is the main tense used?

• Mixed tenses

• Future tense

• Present tense

• Past tense

Identify the incorrect verb tense in the sentence: 'First the past seven years I’ve called myself a swimmer.'

• Past should be present

• Swimmer should be swimming

• Myself should be me

• Called should be call

What should you do to ensure verb tense consistency in your writing?

• Use a variety of tenses to make it interesting

• Avoid using verbs

• Stick to one tense throughout the passage

• Switch tenses to show different times