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You should NEVER shift tenses in your writing needlessly. Always be consistent with your verb tense!Incorrect: After we were comfortable, we begin to do our homework.Correct: After we were comfortable, we began to do our homework.. Incorrect: Suddenly the great door opened, and an uninvit
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1. VERB TENSE CONSISTENCY
2. You should NEVER shift tenses in your writing needlessly. Always be consistent with your verb tense!
Incorrect: After we were comfortable, we begin to do our homework.
Correct: After we were comfortable, we began to do our homework.
3. Incorrect: Suddenly the great door opened, and an uninvited guest comes into the dining hall.
Correct: Suddenly the great door opens, and an uninvited guest comes into the dining hall.
Correct: Suddenly the great door opened, and an uninvited guest came into the dining hall
4. PRACTICE He knew he would not get his wish even though he (blows, blew) out all his birthday candles.
Cindy Nicholas was the first woman who (swims, swam) the English Channel both ways.
5. When the baby sitter raises her voice, the children (know, knew) it is time to behave.
After we had seen all the exhibits at the county fair, we (eat, ate) a snack and then (go, went) home.
I was very nervous when I (go, went) on the ski lift for the first time.
6. Rewrite the following paragraph TWICE. The first time, use present tense and the second time, use past tense. Remember to stay consistent. At my grandparents’ house that morning, I wake up before anyone else and quietly grabbed the fishing pole and head for the pond. Across the water, I saw ripples. “I have to catch that fish,” I say to myself. I threw my lure near where I see the ripples and reeled in the line. The fish don’t seem interested. I saw more ripples and throw the line in the water again. “I’ve got a strike!” I shout to the trees around me. As I reeled in the line, a beautiful trout jumps out of the water and spit out the hook. Discouraged, I go back to the house. Grandpa was sitting at the table with a bowl of hot oatmeal for me. I say, “Maybe tomorrow we’ll have trout for breakfast.”