AVOID ILLOGICAL VERB TENSE SHIFTS The tense of a verb is the time a verb expresses. If not done logically, shifting from one tense to another in the same sentence can cause problems. The following sentence uses both the present tense (drives) and the past tense (took) to express things happening at different times. Therefore, in this case shifting from present tense to past tense is logical. | | present | | | | past | | Usually | he | drives | to | work, | but | yesterday | he | took | the | bus. |
Shifting verb tenses logically can serve a purpose: to show actions occurring at different times. But shifting verb tenses illogically—without a good reason—can make a sentence hard to read and understand. | | | past | | | present | Illogical shift: | Whenever | visitors | approached, | our | dog | barks | loudly. |
Approached is in the past tense; barks is in the present. But the logic of the sentence demands that both verbs be in the same tense. After all, the sentence begins with Whenever, so the dog must be barking at the same time the visitors approach. Here are two correct versions: All present: | Whenever visitors approach, our dog barks loudly. | All past: | Whenever visitors approached, our dog barked loudly. |
Back to Top AVOID ILLOGICAL VOICE SHIFTS Verbs take various tenses. They also come in active voice or passive voice. A verb in the active voice takes a subject—person, place, or thing—that does an action. A verb in the passive voice takes a subject that is acted upon. Active: | The students admire the teacher. | Passive: | The teacher is admired by the students. |
NOTE: | Verbs in the passive voice always contain at least two words: a form of the verb to be (is) and the participle (admired). |
CAUTION: | Shifting from one voice to another in the same sentence often makes the sentence hard to read. Shifting the voice also makes your message less direct and emphatic. |
Inconsistent: | Beautiful birds were seen as she entered the garden. | Consistent: | She saw beautiful birds as she entered the garden. |
The first example begins in the passive voice and then shifts to the active. In the second example, both verbs are in the active voice. Back to Top |