Verb Tense Consistency

Verb Tense Consistency

By Alejandra Rodriguez

What is a verb tense?

The word "tense" means time, and we know that when we talk about time it can be in the past, present, or future.

Subject | Subject

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Past - Action has already happened.

Present - happening right now

Future - has not happened yet​

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Verb Tenses and Examples

Verb Tense Consistency

Consistency just means the same. When all of the verbs in a sentence are happening in the same time period, the verb tenses are consistent.

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Subject | Subject

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Mentor Sentence

Mia went to the park. She walked her dog, ate her lunch, and talks to her friend.

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​What tense are the underlined verbs in?

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Multiple Choice

What tense are the underlined verbs in the mentor sentence in?

Mia went to the park. She walked her dog, ate her lunch, and talks to her friend.

• Past

• Present

• Future

Poll

Now look at the last verb "talks" in the mentor sentence. Are ALL the verbs consistent (the same)?

Mia went to the park. She walked her dog, ate her lunch, and talks to her friend.

• Yes, all of the verbs are consistent.

• No, all the verbs are NOT consistent.

Multiple Choice

What change needs to be made to make them all consistent (the same)?

Mia went to the park. She walked her dog, ate her lunch, and talks to her friend.

• Change talks to talking

• Change talks to will talk

• Changes talks to talked

• Change talks to have talked

Practice with verb tense consistency

For the next questions, first determine what tense the verbs are in.

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​Then, look to see if there are any verbs that does not match the rest.

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Finally, determine what change needs to be made.​

Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

What is the best way to correct this sentence?

Yesterday Ivan threw up during practice because he runs too much.

• Change runs to will run

• Change runs to ran

• Change runs to runned

• No change needs to be made.

Multiple Choice

What is the best way to correct this sentence?

Kevin caught the ball and then throws it to the catcher.

• Change caught to will catch

• Change throws to will throw

• Change throws to threw

• No change is needed.

Multiple Choice

What is the best way to correct this sentence?

Sarah missed a week of school, so her grades suffered.

• Change missed to misses

• Change missed to missing

• Change suffered to suffering

• No change is needed.

Multiple Choice

What is the best way to correct this sentence?

Students are misbehaving but then wonder why they failed.

• Change misbehaving to misbehaved

• Change wonder to wondering

• Change failed to are failing

• No change is needed.

Multiple Choice

What is the best way to correct this sentence?

My dog barked all night and was crying all night too.

• Change barked to barking

• Change WAS CRYING to cried

• Change WAS CRYING to WILL CRY

• No change is needed.

Multiple Choice

What is the best way to correct this sentence?

Mia is practicing for her competition and is giving herself a break this weekend.

• Change practicing to practiced

• Change is practicing to will practice

• Change is giving to gave

• No change is needed.