Determining Appropriate Verb Tense

Determining Appropriate Verb Tense

What do verbs do?

Verbs have different tenses, which tell you whether an action happened in the past, is happening in the present, or will happen in the future.

A grammatical error can occur when the wrong tense is used in a sentence.

Multiple Choice

The theme of the upcoming conference on education was the importance of being academically ready for high school.

• was

• will be

• has been

• was being

HERE'S A TIP💡

What Verb Tense Can Tell You?

In addition to phrasal clues, remember that a verb can tell you three things:

• (1) when the action began (past, present, or future).

• (2) whether it happened before, after, or during another action.

• (3) whether it is continuous.

​For example:

​Another tip to remember! 💡

Multiple Choice

He could sing before large groups if he were asked.

• sing

• sang

• sung

• singed

Multiple Choice

The engineer has designed and to build his own home.

• to build

• builds

• built

• had built

Multiple Choice

Men's tailored clothing sales have been stagnant in recent years as consumers assembled business casual wardrobes. replacing suits with budget khakis and knit shirts.

• assembled business casual

  wardrobes, replacing

• have assembled business casual

  wardrobes, replacing

• have assembled business casual

  wardrobes and replacing

• had assembled business casual

  wardrobes, replacing

Multiple Choice

Curare has little effect when ingested, but few people are known to recover from its effects when the poison is introduced directly into the bloodstream.

• but few people are known to

  recover from its effects

• but few people are known to have

  recovered from its effects

• but its effects are known to allow

  few people to recover

• and few people are known to

  recover from its effects

TO SUM UP 📖