Not ensuring verb tense consistency is one of the most common mistakes that writers make. Any piece of writing, including essays and stories, has specific time frames for the actions or states of being described in it. Readers can understand the temporal relationships among the different events of a narrative through corresponding changes in verb tense.
Most writers stick to one tense for the main discourse and indicate the changes in the time frame by clearly changing the verb tense. Incorrect or inconsistent shifts in tense cause confusion among readers. So, as a rule, writers should avoid shifting between tenses if the time frame for each action or state of being remains the same.
But before getting into the intricacies of verb tense consistency, it is important to have a clear understanding of the three main tenses in English and their subcategories.
The English Tenses
| Tense | Examples | Used to express | Notes |
| Simple present | The sun rises in the east. Bruce seldom skips school. She speaks Mandarin. | General validity Repeated, regular action in the present Confirmed future actions | |
| Present Perfect | The witness has taken the oath. We have arrived at the airport. I have never declined a second cup of coffee. | An action that has just been completed An action that lasts up to the present moment An action that has never taken place up to the present moment An action that has taken place once or more than once before the present moment | |
| Present Progressive | Peter is designing the website. It is raining. The birds are singing. | An action currently taking place An action limited to a specific timeframe An action already planned or agreed upon | |
| Present Perfect Progressive | I have been at the gym for a couple of hours now. We have been serving our customers since 1983. How long has he been drinking? | An action that began in the past and has lasted until the present A completed action that influences the present | Emphasis on the action, not the result of the action |
| Simple Past | It rained yesterday. I spoke to him last night. We went to the carnival last year. | A single or repeated action in the past A new action that interrupts an action that was already taking place | |
| Past Perfect | The messiah had spoken. The chickens had hatched before spring. They had gone to the cinema last Tuesday. | An action that took place before a specific time in the past | Sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive |
| Past Progressive | We were visiting my mother yesterday. It was drizzling last night. Jane was dancing at the party. | Emphasis on the process of an action taking place in the past | |
| Past Perfect Progressive | He had not been speaking to them before they apologized. I had been living in Europe until last year. They had been scrimping and saving all their lives. | A continuous action before a certain time in the past | Emphasis on the action or the length of the action |
| Simple Future (will) | I will go to school tomorrow. We will go shopping this Monday. They will play football on that field. | Future events that cannot be influenced Spontaneous decisions about the future Suppositions about the future | |
| Simple Future (going to) | I am going to do this next year. Robert is going to write a novel. My children and I are going to travel to Iceland. | Pre-existing intention about the future A logical conclusion about the future | |
| Future Perfect | I will have finished this book by tomorrow. They will have left Japan by next week. She will have cooked dinner by the time her husband reaches home. | An action that will have been completed by a certain time in the future | |
| Future Perfect Progressive | In December, I will have been working at my company for four years. Next month, I will have known my best friend for twenty years. When John turns thirty, he will have been playing the saxophone for twenty years. | An action that will continue up until a certain time in the future | Emphasis on the length of the action |
Maintaining Verb Tense Consistency in Sentences
- When Harriet walks into a room, everyone will stare.
In the above sentence, walks is in the simple present tense while will stare is in the simple future tense. Verb tense consistency is clearly missing here.
Here is the corrected version of the same sentence:
When Harriet walks into a room, everyone stares.
Here is another example:
- Jason reached for a third slice of pizza after he had already ate two.
In the above sentence, reached is in the simple past tense while ate is also in the simple past tense. However, reaching for the third slice of pizza is the 2nd action that occurred after the 1st action of eating two slices. Therefore, the 1st action requires the past perfect tense (had+past participle of verb).
Here is the corrected version of the same sentence:
Jason reached for a third slice of pizza after he had already eaten two.
Maintaining Verb Tense Consistency in Paragraphs
In a paragraph, it is important to establish a primary tense and ensure that tenses remain consistent in each sentence. There must be no shift in tenses between sentences unless a change in time needs to be shown.
1. A Paragraph in the Present Tense
A baby sparrow falls to the ground, close to its nest. It cheeps nervously for its mother. Children play nearby but no one pays attention to it. A cat sees it but ignores it. If a dog sees it, it will kill it. Luckily, no dogs are nearby.
In the above paragraph, all actions occur in the simple present tense except in this sentence – “If a dog sees it, it will kill it.” It expresses a future possibility that is contingent upon an action taking place in the present.
2. A Paragraph in the Past Tense
New students went to the Admissions office to pay their fees yesterday. They also picked up their free transport passes from the University Transportation office. However, they will go to the bookstore only next week to buy their textbooks, which were not in stock yesterday.
In the above paragraph, all actions occur in the simple past tense except in this sentence – “However, they will go to the bookstore only next week to buy their textbooks, which were not in stock yesterday.” It indicates an action that will take place in the future because it could not occur in the past.
Rules for Maintaining Verb Tense Consistency in Essays
- Present tense must be used when writing about factual topics or actions taking place in a book, play, or movie or when expressing one’s own ideas.
- When quoting from someone else’s work, the original tense of the quoted material must be retained while maintaining the present tense in one’s own writing.
- Past tense must be used when writing about past events, completed research studies and arguments, or findings in scientific literature.
- Future tense must be used when writing about events that will occur in the future.
- As a rule, tense should be changed only for the sake of clarity.
Read through the following paragraph. Can you spot the errors in verb tense consistency?
Bicycling is a fun way to get moving after a sedentary day at work or school. It is a hobby that had promoted physical fitness and good health. Like hiking, bicycling will be a relatively inexpensive activity when compared to other sports or hobbies. Beginners need to learn the basics of bicycling and bicycle care before they have started – this builds confidence while riding and preventing accidents and injury.