G0472
Week 7:
Verbs and Tenses
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Learning Outcomes
The students are expected to
be able to edit mistakes in the
use of tenses in manuscripts.
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VERBS AND TENSES
Verb tenses are tools that English writers use to
express time in their language. You may find
that many English tenses do not have direct
translations in your language.
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VERBS AND TENSES
In English, there are three basic tenses:
present, past, and future. Each has a perfect
form, indicating completed action; each has a
progressive form, indicating ongoing action; and
each has a perfect progressive form, indicating
ongoing action that will be completed at some
definite time.
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Shift in Tense
The tense of your verb tells when events are
taking place--whether in the past, the present, or
the future.
Early in a writer’s writing process, she should
establish a "base tense" for her paper, and shift
away from it only for good reason.
If she is writing about past events, she should use
the past tense as her base tense. If she is writing
about the present or the future, she should build
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around one of those tenses.
Shift in Tense
Change:
We went into Bruno's and ordered a pizza. The
waitress comes over and brings us our drinks. I
can see she's going to spill one.
To:
We went into Bruno's and ordered a pizza. As the
waitress came back with our drinks, I could see
she was going to spill one.
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Edit the following paragraph for
consistency in tense:
The first thing I hear was the terrible scream of
somebody's voice blending into the squeal of
rubber as we come hurtling down on the Honda
from behind. It's my little sister, both hands
pressed to the sides of her head, while my dad
tried to push the brakes through the floor. Then
suddenly we're going sideways, and I see a big
church come floating across the windshield.
Then I knew we'll crash.
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Shift in Person
Here again, the goal is to be clear and consistent.
This time, however, the aim is to establish a
steady, reliable point of view. Doing so helps
the reader understand where the two of you
stand in relation to the subject, and generally
helps build a strong writer/reader relationship.
The aim is to establish a steady, reliable
point of view.
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Steps in Editing
Change:
Linda is my best friend. She won't let a person
down. You can always count on her to be there
when you need help.
To:
Linda is my best friend. She won't let me down. I
can always count on her to be there when I need
help.
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Edit the following paragraph twice, each time
from a different point of view:
At the entrance of the canyon you could see the
vegetation change radically. What struck you most
was the sparse, stunted growth of plants otherwise
similar to those you had seen a few miles back
where the river, calmer and wider, took you
through a lush, open area covered with huge trees
and some of the longest grasses you had ever seen.
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Look at the following sentences.
which one is correct?
1. Last Saturday, I told my wife not to forget to
close the window before she went to bed; but
she didn't.
2. Last Saturday, I told my wife not to forget to
close the window before she goes to bed; but
she didn't.
3. Last Saturday, I told my wife not to forget to
close the window before going to bed; but she
didn't.
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