Verb Tense Shift
Just like with numbers, verbs need to agree in tense. If a sentence is talking about the past, all the verbs need to remain in the past tense. Similarly, if the sentence is talking about the present, all the verbs needs to stay in the present tense. When you have two sentences giving information about the same event, keep the verbs from both sentences in the same tense to avoid confusing the reader.
You want to be sure that you are always consistent with your verb tense. When you shift verb tenses for no reason, which is an easy mistake to make, you can really confuse your readers.
If you're writing in the present tense, be sure you stay in the present tense. If you're writing in the past tense, be sure you stay in the past tense. The exception would be if you need to shift tenses to tell a story, but that would be purposeful shifting. It's the random, accidental shifting that causes the problems, as illustrated in this example:
 She grabs my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing. This
showed what a good self-defense course has done. |
Here is what a corrected version of the sentence looks like:
 She grabbed my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing. This
showed what a good self-defense course has done. |
You should also be aware that certain types of writing require either past or present tense. For example, research in APA format often needs to be presented in the past tense, but a literary analysis written in MLA format needs to be presented using present tense verbs. It's called the literary present tense. If you're ever unsure about tense requirements, be sure to ask your teacher.
Complete this Exercise
Nouns and verbs need to agree in number and time. When you write, you can check your sentences for agreement. Check the following sentences for correct agreement.
Source: Excelsior OWL, https://owl.excelsior.edu/grammar-essentials/common-errors/common-errors-verb-tense-shift/
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