Section One Verb Tense Agreement

Verb tense agreement refers to the consistency of verb tenses in a sentence, a paragraph, or even an essay.In other words, if you begin your writing in the present tense, do not shift suddenly to the past tense；if you begin in the past tense, do not shift without reason to the present tense.In the following two sentences, the verb tenses are consistent.

1) When the speaker enters the lecture hall, the audience rise.

2) When the speaker entered the lecture hall, the audience rose.

But the tenses in the sentence below shift illogically:

3) When the speaker enters, the audience rose.

Listed below are two rules to get rid of errors in verb tense agreement.

The first rule: Shift verb tense when time is changed.

4) Fifty years ago, Thanksgiving Day was regarded as the opening day of the season for Christmas shopping；today, the season opens immediately after Halloween.

In sentence 4) , the time is changed from fifty years ago to today , so the past tense wasis shifted to present tense opens.

The second rule: Shift verb tense when the meaning calls for such a change.

5) The Forbidden City (紫禁城) was the home of the Chinese emperors and is famous throughout the world for its architecture and historical relics.

In sentence 5) , the past tense wasis used because there aren't any emperors in today's China；the present tense isis used because the architecture and historical relics in the Forbidden City still exist.

In brief, you must maintain consistency in verb tense while writing.Shifting tenses should be done logically.

Practice 2-1-1

All of the following sentences contain unnecessary tense shifts.Make the verb tenses consistent in each sentence.Answers are provided only for the first two sentences.

1.When I am young I used to go swimming in the lake.But now it is so polluted that almost everything in it has died.

2.Thirty years ago, the typical American family consisted of a husband, a wife, and two or three children.Now, there are many marriages in which couples decided not to have any children.

3.He tells us he will write, but he never wrote.

4.After the gorilla (大猩猩) looked them over, he turns his back and walks away.

5.There is a photocopy machine inside the post office that you are just in.

6.Vancouver is one of North America's most beautiful cities, and is recently ranked as“the world's most desirable place to live”.

7.He gives us no instructions for making the experiment and then was critical of what we did.

8.We worked the entire summer at the camp, and then at the end our boss surprises us with an extra week's pay because we have worked so hard there.

9.Your friend will help you at any time if you were in trouble.

10.I felt very lonely in the hospital, for I can't see my friends or my parents.

11.If you went to bed too late, you will feel sleepy the next day.

12.When I was a child, I stayed at home happily with my parents.When I was young, I have to work hard every day.When I was old, I will go to the countryside to enjoy the rest of my life.

Practice 2-1-2

Identify and correct the unnecessary tense shifts in the following paragraph.Use the first verb as your time marker.No answers are provided.

I sat down at my desk early with intentions of spending the next three hours studying.Before many minutes passed, I hear a great deal of noise down on the floor below me.A water fight is in progress.I forgot about my study for half an hour, for it is quite impossible for me to concentrate myself on the book in the midst of all this commotion (干扰).After things became quiet, I began studying again.Unfortunately, I was about to continue my study when a classmate phones me.

Practice 2-1-3

Choose one of the topics below and write your own paragraph (s).

1.Write a paragraph or several paragraphs in the past tense describing a personal experience involving an event, a place, or a person that influenced you in some significant ways.

2.Now describe the same personal experience as if it is happening at the moment.

3.Write a paragraph or several paragraphs describing something that you remember from your childhood and now miss.

4.Write a paragraph or several paragraphs describing your plan for a welcoming party or a farewell party which will be held next week.