DTW GED PREP

Verb Tense Consistency

When editing for grammar, it’s important not only to ensure subject-verb agreement but also to make sure all verbs in a sentence or passage are in the correct tense. Verb tense helps readers understand when an action takes place—past, present, or future.

1. Simple Tenses

• Simple Present – Used for habitual actions or general truths:
  I walk to school every day.
  Water boils at 100°C.
• Simple Past – Used to describe completed actions:
  I walked home through the woods.
  She hurried off to see the game.
  • Regular verbs add –ed or –d (if ending in e)
  • For verbs ending in –y, change y to i, then add –ed
    carry → carried
• Simple Future – Formed with will + base form of the verb:
  I will take a ride to town.
  You will find the book interesting.

2. Continuous (Progressive) Tenses

These tenses show ongoing actions in the past, present, or future:

• Past Continuous: was/were + verb–ing
  Marco Polo was bringing treasures from China to Italy.
• Present Continuous: am/is/are + verb–ing
  He is working on his essay.
• Future Continuous: will be + verb–ing
  We will be talking about the test before you take it.

3. Perfect Tenses

Perfect tenses use helping verbs (has, have, had, will have) with the past participle form of the main verb.

• Present Perfect – has/have + past participle
  Used for actions that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continue into the present.
  We have washed the car.
  I have kept a daily account of my expenses since I began to work.
• Past Perfect – had + past participle
  Indicates an action that was completed before another past action.
  By the time the ticket office opened, a long line had formed.
• Future Perfect – will have + past participle
  Used to describe an action that will be completed before a specific future time.
  By December, I will have lived here for six months.

4. Irregular Verbs

Many common English verbs do not follow the regular –ed pattern in the past or past participle forms. These are known as irregular verbs, and they must be memorized.

Some examples:

1.9 VERB TENSES

Directions: Rewrite each sentence so that the verbs are in the correct tense.

1. I was in the shower when the phone rings.
2. Since the day when I wrote that poem, I wrote two short stories.
3. By the time I remembered that the roast was in the oven, it overcooks.
4. While he was speaking yesterday, the senator is shouting loudly to make a point.

1.9 VERB TENSES

1. I was in the shower when the phone rings.

Corrected: I was in the shower when the phone rang.
Explanation: The sentence combines two past actions. The verb “rings” (present tense) must change to “rang” (past tense) to match the past continuous verb “was in the shower.”

2. Since the day when I wrote that poem, I wrote two short stories.

Corrected: Since the day when I wrote that poem, I have written two short stories.
Explanation: The phrase “since the day when I wrote” marks a point in the past, so the action that occurred from that time until now (writing two stories) requires present perfect tense (have written) to show it’s connected to the present.

3. By the time I remembered that the roast was in the oven, it overcooks.

Corrected: By the time I remembered that the roast was in the oven, it had overcooked.
Explanation: “Had overcooked” is past perfect, which is required here to show that the roast overcooked before the remembering took place. This emphasizes the correct sequence of past events.

4. While he was speaking yesterday, the senator is shouting loudly to make a point.

Corrected: While he was speaking yesterday, the senator was shouting loudly to make a point.
Explanation: Both actions happened at the same time in the past, so the verb “is shouting” must be changed to past continuous (“was shouting”) to maintain tense consistency with “was speaking.”