By Evodie and Liliana

Verb tenses show time. A writer must be careful to use the tense ( present, past ,or future) that correctly shows the time of an event or action.

Problems with tense shift occur when a writer moves from one tense to another inappropriately.

Example Incorrect: I went to my room and I cried because

I start thinking about sad moments. Correct: I went to my room and I cried because

I started thinking about sad moments.

Three ideas to keep your sentences straight

1.You should be consistent in your use of tenses. Don’t switch from one tense to another without a reason.

2. When writing about two events in a sentence, you must make sure that the sequence of events is clear. If one action happened before the other, you must make adjust the tenses of each action’s verbs.

3. True statements are always expressed in the present tense. “Mt. Everest is the world’s tallest peak.”

Time WordsAfter, afterwards.Before.Then.Once.Next.Last, at last, at length.First, second, finally.Rarely, usually.Another.Soon, meanwhile.At the same time.

For a minute, hour, day .During the morning, later. In order to, to being with. In the meantime,

immediately.Subsequently.

Bibliographyhttp://www.penandpage.com/EngMenu/gram

verb.htmwww.msubilling.edu/asc/pdf-writing lab13-

mmte%20504/tense%20shift.pdf