1.2 Verb Tense
Suppose you must give an oral presentation about what you did last summer. How do you make it clear that you are talking about the past and not about the present or the future? Using the correct verb tense can help you do this.
It is important to use the proper verb tense. Otherwise, your listener might judge you harshly. Mistakes in tense often leave a listener or reader with a negative impression.
Regular Verbs
Verbs indicate actions or states of being in the past, present, or future using tenses. Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from the present to past tense. For example, to form a past-tense or past-participle verb form, add -ed or -d to the end of a verb. You can avoid mistakes by understanding this basic pattern.
Verb tense identifies the time of action described in a sentence. Verbs take different forms to indicate different tenses. Verb tenses indicate
- an action or state of being in the present,
- an action or state of being in the past,
- an action or state of being in the future.
Helping verbs, such as be and have, also work to create verb tenses, such as the future tense.
Present Tense: Time walks to the store. (Singular subject)
Present Tense: Sue and Kimmy walk to the store. (Plural subject)
Past Tense: Yesterday, they walked to the store to buy some bread. (Singular subject)
Irregular Verbs
The past tense of irregular verbs is not formed using the patterns that regular verbs follow. Study Table 1.2.1 “Irregular Verbs”, which lists the most common irregular verbs. The best way to learn irregular verbs is to memorize them. With the help of a classmate, create flashcards of irregular verbs and test yourselves until you master them.
| Simple Present | Past | Simple Present | Past |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was, were | lose | lost |
| become | became | make | made |
| begin | began | mean | meant |
| blow | blew | meet | met |
| break | broke | pay | paid |
| bring | brought | put | put |
| build | built | quit | quit |
| burst | burst | read | read |
| buy | bought | ride | rode |
| catch | caught | ring | rang |
| choose | chose | rise | rose |
| come | came | run | ran |
| cut | cut | say | said |
| dive | dove (dived) | see | saw |
| do | did | seek | sought |
| draw | drew | sell | sold |
| drink | drank | send | sent |
| drive | drove | set | set |
| eat | ate | shake | shook |
| fall | fell | shine | shone (shined) |
| feed | fed | shrink | shrank (shrunk) |
| feel | felt | sing | sang |
| fight | fought | sit | sat |
| find | found | sleep | slept |
| fly | flew | speak | spoke |
| forget | forgot | spend | spent |
| forgive | forgave | spring | sprang |
| freeze | froze | stand | stood |
| get | got | steal | stole |
| give | gave | strike | struck |
| go | went | swim | swam |
| grow | grew | swing | swung |
| have | had | take | took |
| hear | heard | teach | taught |
| hide | hid | tear | tore |
| hold | held | tell | told |
| hurt | hurt | think | thought |
| keep | kept | throw | threw |
| know | knew | understand | understood |
| lay | laid | wake | woke |
| lead | led | wear | wore |
| leave | left | win | won |
| let | let | wind | wound |
Here, we consider using irregular verbs.
Present Tense: Lauren keeps all her letters.
Past Tense: Lauren kept all her letters.
Future Tense: Lauren will keep all her letters.
Maintaining Consistent Verb Tense
Consistent verb tense means the same verb tense is used throughout a sentence or a paragraph. As you write and revise, it is important to use the same verb tense consistently and to avoid shifting from one tense to another unless there is a good reason for the tense shift. In the following box, see whether you notice the difference between a sentence with consistent tense and one with inconsistent tense.
Inconsistent tense:
The crowd starts cheering as Melina approached the finish line.
Consistent tense:
The crowd started cheering as Melina approached the finish line.
Consistent tense:
The crowd starts cheering as Melina approaches the finish line.
Tip
In some cases, clear communication will call for different tenses. Look at the following example:
When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a firefighter, but now I am studying computer science.
If the time frame for each action or state is different, a tense shift is appropriate.
Key Takeaways
- Verb tense helps you express when an event takes place.
- Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from present to past tense.
- Irregular verbs do not follow regular, predictable patterns when shifting from present to past tense.
- Using consistent verb tense is a key element to effective writing.
“7.3 Verb Tense” from Putting the Pieces Together by Andrew M. Stracuzzi and André Cormier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Removed Learning Objectives, Exercises, Connecting the Pieces, and Writing Application.
