A. Verbs and Verb Tenses
What are Verbs?
What is verb tense?
Verbs indicate actions or states of being in the past, present, or future using tenses. Verb tense identifies the time of action described in a sentence. Helping verbs, such as be and have, also work to create verb tenses, such as the future tense. For a full list and descriptions of verb tenses, see the following chapters. Here are a few of the most common tenses:
| Verb tense | Sample verb | Sample sentence with the verb in bold |
|---|---|---|
| past tense | walked | Yesterday, they walked to the laundromat. |
| present tense | walks | Achara walks to school. |
| present progressive tense | are walking | Sara and Kimmy are walking to a cafe. |
| present perfect tense | has walked | Sumita has walked to the corner store twice already. |
| future tense | will walk | Next weekend, they will walk to the farmer’s market. |
Maintaining consistent verb tense
Sometimes, without realizing it, we may shift tense as we write. This can be jarring or confusing for the reader. it is important to use the same verb tense consistently and to avoid shifting from one tense to another unless there is a good reason for the tense shift. Review these examples of consistent and inconsistent verb tenses.
| Sample sentence with the verbs in bold | Explanation |
|---|---|
| The crowd starts cheering as Melina approached the finish line. | Inconsistent tense: The verb starts is in present tense, but the verb approached is in past tense. |
| The crowd started cheering as Melina approached the finish line. | Consistent tense: The verbs started and approached are both in past tense. |
| The crowd starts cheering as Melina approaches the finish line. | Consistent tense: The verbs starts and approaches are both in present tense. |
In some cases, we need to use different tenses in the same sentence. If the time frame for each action or state is different, a tense shift is appropriate. The following explains an appropriate shift in verb tense:
| Sample sentence with the verbs in bold | Explanation |
|---|---|
| When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a firefighter, but now I am studying computer science. | Appropriate shift in verb tense: The verb wanted is in past tense to describe a past feeling, whereas the verb am studying is in present progressive tense to describe an ongoing present action.
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Exercise 1: Edit the following paragraph by correcting any cases of inconsistent verb tense.
In the Middle Ages, most people lived in villages and work as agricultural laborers, or peasants. Every village has a “lord,” and the peasants worked on his land. Much of what they produce go to the lord and his family. What little food was leftover goes to support the peasants’ families. In return for their labor, the lord offers them protection. A peasant’s day usually began before sunrise and involves long hours of backbreaking work, which includes plowing the land, planting seeds, and cutting crops for harvesting. The working life