Identify and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense

Key Notes:

The tense of a verb tells when the action takes place. Do not shift tenses within or between sentences unless you need to reflect a time change.

  • Kathy grew up in a small village, but now she lives in a large city.
  • The sentence shifts to the present tense to reflect a time change.
  • Rachel grabbed the microphone and speaks spoke to the crowd.
  • There is no need to reflect a time change, so both verbs should be in the same tense.

Learn with an example

1. ) Does the following text have an inappropriate shift in verb tense? If so, fix any verbs that don’t match the tense of the verb in bold. If not, submit the text without making any changes.

  • A car dealership generally discounts the previous year’s models when the new vehicles arrive on the showroom floor.

Look at the verb in bold, discounts. It is in the present tense.

The verb arrived is in the past tense. There is no need to reflect a time change, so this is an inappropriate shift in verb tense. Change arrived to its present-tense form, arrive.

2. ) Does the following text have an inappropriate shift in verb tense? If so, fix any verbs that don’t match the tense of the verb in bold. If not, submit the text without making any changes.

  • The Allens run a dairy farm and produced a soft, creamy goat’s cheese, or chèvre, from their goats’ milk.

Look at the verb in bold, run. It is in the present tense.

The verb produced is in the past tense. There is no need to reflect a time change, so this is an inappropriate shift in verb tense. Change produced to its present-tense form, produce.

3. ) Does the following text have an inappropriate shift in verb tense? If so, fix any verbs that don’t match the tense of the verb in bold. If not, submit the text without making any changes.

  • Although most people usually associate penguins with Antarctica, many penguins actually live along the coasts of Africa, Australia, and South America.

Look at the verb in bold, associate. It is in the present tense.

The verb lived is in the past tense. There is no need to reflect a time change, so this is an inappropriate shift in verb tense. Change lived to its present-tense form, live.

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