Verb Tense Shifts

Activity 1

Distribute the handout of a paragraph containing problems with shifts and gender. Ask students to find the problems and correct them. 

Example Paragraph:

 

Warm-up

Tell students that in the next activity they will focus on avoiding verb tense shifts.

First, make sure students understand the term “verb tense.”

Elicit responses from students. Then provide them with an explanation. 

 

Verb tense is the form of the verb that indicates time. 

For example:

I sent the letter yesterday. (the verb shows that the action was in the past)

A verb tense also indicates whether the action is ongoing or complete.

For example:

I am reading a book. (the verb indicates that the action is still in progress)

Then clarify the meaning of a tense shift by analyzing the following example:

Harry wants to show his friends the photos he took last summer. (it is an acceptable shift because Harry wants to show now what he did last summer).

John insisted that he has paid for the ticket. (incorrect because he insisted on what he had already done; had paid is the correct answer)

Activity 1

Have students access the following website:

http://learners.ncu.edu/writingprogram/writing_center.aspx?menu_id=147

Ask students to find answers to the following questions:

1)    In what case might changes in tense be required?

Answer: certain changes in tense may be required to indicate the changes in actual or relative time that the writer is trying to convey.

2)    What will an unnecessary tense shift cause?

Answer: It will cause confusion about time and place for the reader:

3)    When you proofread your paper, what questions can help you to determine whether verb tense shifts in your paper are necessary? 

Answer: You can ask if the event being described is:

(a) already over;

(b) continues to occur;

(c) will occur in the future. 

Activity 2 Avoiding Tense Shifts Read the following paragraphs to determine whether unnecessary shifting takes place. One of the paragraphs is correct. In the paragraphs that shift unnecessarily between time frames, change the verbs to maintain one time frame, thus making the entire paragraph read smoothly.                              I loved travelling by train. The rocking motion makes me so calm, and the clackety-clack of the railroad ties as we ride over them sounds like a heartbeat to me. I also enjoy walking down the aisles of all the cars and looking at the different passengers. Whole families sat together, with children facing their parents. I noticed the kids liked to ride backward more than the adults. The food that we ate in the dining car was expensive, but it is always fancy and delicious. My favourite part of the train is the observation car. It is made of glass from the seats up so that we could see everything that we passed along the way.  People, especially those who have money, are sometimes wasteful. People exhibited wastefulness in different ways. Restaurants wasted a lot of food every day. Homeowners watered their lawns for too long and let the excess run down the street. People cleaning out their garbage threw away their clothes and furniture instead of giving them to charities. I do admit that I am wasteful too, for I am a typical member of my society. I use three sheets of paper for a one-page assignment because I made tiny mistakes, and I order too much food at restaurants. We all needed to start conserving our resources now while there is still time. I recently found out that in Shakespeare’s day, all of the characters’ parts were played by male actors. That discovery surprised me. The Elizabethans, of course, probably accepted it without question. Now that we are used to realistic action and special effects on stage, I have a hard time imagining a man playing Juliet convincingly. Yet as a drama student, I know how much costume and voice really help to create a believable character. And I was glad to read that, more recently, there have been all-female casts of Hamlet and other plays. That seems to balance the scale somehow.  Source: Glazier, Teresa, Paige Wilson and Kathleen Wagner. The Least You Should Know about English. 1st Canadian ed.                      Toronto: Harcourt. 2002. Print.