1. Understanding Verb Tense Shifts

• Verb tense shifts occur when a sentence changes from one tense to another without a clear reason.
• Shifts can confuse readers and make writing unclear.

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2. Types of Verb Tenses

• Past Tense: Describes actions that have already happened.
• Example: “She walked to school.”
• Present Tense: Describes actions happening now.
• Example: “She walks to school.”
• Future Tense: Describes actions that will happen.
• Example: “She will walk to school.”

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3. Identifying Inappropriate Shifts

• Look for sentences that start in one tense but switch to another.
• Example of a Shift: “She was walking to school when she sees a cat.”
• Corrected: “She was walking to school when she saw a cat.”

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4. When to Change Tenses

• Tenses should only change if the time frame of the action changes.
• Use past tense for actions that happened before another action in the past.
• Use present tense for ongoing actions.

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5. Maintaining Consistency

• Keep the same tense throughout a sentence or a paragraph unless there is a reason to shift.
• Example: “He likes to play soccer, and he plays every Saturday.” (consistent present tense)
• Example: “Yesterday, he played soccer and enjoyed it.” (consistent past tense)

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6. Common Mistakes

• Shifting without reason.
• Incorrect: “The dog barks loudly, and then it ran away.”
• Correct: “The dog barked loudly, and then it ran away.”
• Mixing tenses in the same context.
• Incorrect: “She will eat dinner and watched a movie.”
• Correct: “She will eat dinner and will watch a movie.”

Let’s practice!🖊️