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Verb Tense Back to Exercise Menu

Introduction to Exercise 1 - Using verb tenses correctly in your writing
Grammar Explanation

•  Use the present or past tenses consistently, both within one sentence and from one sentence to the next.
  • Example: After deliberating for a whole day, the jury acquitted the defendant. That made the prosecuting attorney furious and he vowed to appeal the verdict.
•  If the situation you are writing about requires a change of tense, use a time expression to alert your reader.
  • Example: Whenever the economy is in bad shape, incumbent presidents have a hard time winning an election. In 1992, President George Bush lost the election because voters were nervous about the weak economy.
•  When writing about events or ideas presented by another writer in stories or articles, use the present tense.
  • Example: In an article published in a sociology journal two weeks ago, the author discusses several factors that contribute to the alarming rise in teenage pregnancy.
PDF Download Grammar Explanation (PDF)
What You Will Do

The following passages contain mistakes with tense consistency. If you click on the word or phrase that contains the wrong tense, two choices will appear on the side. Click on the correct choice to insert it in the passage. If you click on the wrong choice, the Answer Box at the bottom of the choices will tell you why your choice is wrong.
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