Verb tense basically tells the time of whatever you are talking about--what happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what will happen in the future. Being consistent in verb tense is key to your audience's ability to understand what you are saying. In order for this to happen, you need at least a basic understanding of the tenses and their purposes in the English language.
For this post I, again, decided to share a short list of resources. Each deals in some way with verb tense. Hopefully by the end, you will know how to recognize the different tenses and ultimately avoid swapping tenses within your writing(s). And if this is not the case, at least, you will know where to look when you need help (:
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- Grammar-Monster's article "Verb Tense"
- This page defines verb tense and gives some basic examples. What I like most about this one is that a list of all of the tenses is included which provides links to pages speaking strictly about the tense you may want to know more about.
- Purdue OWL's page about "Verb Tense Consistency"
- Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) has a TON of information about verbs in general. The link I have shared is simply the rules about verb consistency. If you are having trouble with subject verb agreement or understanding which tense to use, several other links are available for your perusal (:
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- Grammar Girl's articles "Is It Okay To Switch Verb Tenses?" and "Mixing Verb Tenses"
- These two articles are related in that they both deal with verb tense, but they are different in what aspect they cover. The first talks purely about the rules for switching tenses within a sentence and when it is and is not good to do so. The latter covers a couple of the more confusing tenses and explains the difference between them. Each includes example of the correct and incorrect ways to use them.
- University of Ottawa, Canada, has a page about "Using Verbs" in their Writing Center
- This page holds information about verbs in general. The different tabs are all helpful (depending on what you are wanting help with, of course).
- Handout-style page from Towson University about tense consistency
- This one gives straightforward demonstrations for the use of tense and when to change and not change the tense. It is a little lengthy, but well done.
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- short quiz to test your knowledge of the tenses from Grammar-Monster
- article in the Huffington Post "The Art of Using Correct Verb Tenses in Your Writing" gives some great examples of the different verb tenses
I hope these pages are able to answer any question you may have, but if not, I am always available to help!!
Amanda
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