Using Tense Shifts Effectively

Verbs are words we use to name action, condition, or existence. They have five features we can use to express certain aspects of reality and the communication situation: number, person, voice, mood, and tense (or time frame). In this handout we will be dealing only with tense, specifically with the responsibility we have as writers and speakers to use tense shifts effectively and to avoid unnecessary tense shifts. Tense is the feature of verbs that allows us to express timeboth period and duration. In other words we can use verbs to set a time period for an actionwhether it happened (past tense), happens now (present tense) or will happen (future). I cooked the spaghetti. (past) I cook the spaghetti. (present) I will cook the spaghetti. (future) But verbs can also indicate whether the action is ongoing (was happening, is happening, or will have been happening) or has been completed (has happened, had happened, or will have happened) at a certain time. I was cooking the spaghetti. (past progressivethe action was ongoing during the past period we are talking about) I am cooking the spaghetti. (present progressivethe action is ongoing, even as we speak) I will be cooking the spaghetti. (the action will be ongoing during some future time frame) I had cooked the spaghetti. (past perfectthe action was completed before a specified time in the past) I have cooked the spaghetti. (present perfectthe action was completed before the present time) I will have cooked the spaghetti. (future perfect)the action will be completed by specified time in the future. With these capabilities, verbs allow us to order events logically in time, so we can speak not only about actions in the past, but also about actions that are ongoing during the past or about actions that were completed before a specified time in the more recent past. In other words we can show a past that has a past or a future that has an ongoing action in it. Consider the following sentence: I had finished preparing the salad, so I dredged the chicken in flour and heated the oil. We actually have two time periods in this sentencea simple past (I dredged the chicken in flour and heated the oil) and a past time before the simple past, in which I had completed an action (I had finished preparing the salad).

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The example sentence required us to shift tenses in the middle of the sentence in order to provide an accurate and logical sequence of events for our readers. We shifted tenses by changing the verb forms from a past perfect form (had prepared) to show the past of the past in the first clause to a simple past form (dredged and heated) in the second clause. The key point to remember is to use tense shifts only when you have a reason to move your audience to a different time frame. For instance, in the following sentence there is no reason for the tense shift. Last year Harry took three college classes, managed the tutoring center, and pays for his car. This example sentence causes us to pause on the brink of confusion because it has shifted tenses for no reason. Its primary tense is past (took and managed). There is no valid reason to suddenly jump into the present tense (pays), so we are taken aback for a moment, and the sentence sounds very awkward to us. Exercise 1 In the following exercise, some of the sentences have unnecessary tense shifts. Correct the sentences by crossing out the offending verb forms and replacing them with appropriate forms. Here are some hints to help you out: determine what the primary tense or time frame of the story is, then decide whether any events happened before the primary time frame and whether any continue into the present and choose appropriate verb forms to indicate those shifts. By the time Paul arrived at the house it is too late. The door was open, the light was on and his wife has disappeared. People are still walking home from work and the sidewalk in front of his house pulsed with a slow but steady stream of neighbors who stared at him as they passed. In the twilight the streetlamps glow casts dim and surreal highlights on the odd assortment of objects in his yard, the treadmill and the ten potted plants arranged in alphabetical order on the front walk. Looking back furtively over his shoulder as he folds the treadmill and secured its dangling electrical cord, Paul gives the impression of some agitation as he pushed the machine through the door and into the foyer of his home. One of the pots is an inch and a half out of alignment. Sighing, he nudged it into place and picked up a leaf that fell when the pot moved.
Possible Solution: By the time Paul arrived at the house it was too late. The door was open, the light was on and his wife had disappeared. People were still walking home from work and the sidewalk in front of his house pulsed with a slow but steady stream of neighbors who stared at him as they passed. In the twilight the streetlamps glow cast dim and surreal highlights on the odd assortment of objects in his yard, the treadmill and the ten potted plants arranged in alphabetical order on the front walk. Looking back furtively over his shoulder as he folded the treadmill and secured its dangling electrical cord, Paul gave the impression of some agitation as he pushed the machine through the door and into the foyer of his home. One of the pots was an inch and a half out of alignment. Sighing, he nudged it into place and picked up a leaf that had fallen when the pot moved.

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Exercise 2 Correct all the unnecessary tense shifts in the following paragraphs by crossing out the offending verb forms and replacing them with appropriate ones. Here are some hints to help you out: determine what the primary tense or time frame of the story is, then decide whether any events happened before the primary time frame and whether any continue into the present and choose appropriate verb forms to indicate those shifts.

Vincent Van Gogh is probably most well known in America for cutting off a large piece of his own ear with a razor in a fit of rage after a violent quarrel with Paul Gauguin with whom he was sharing a house at the time. While trying to establish an artists colony in the South of France, Gauguin and Van Gogh live together in the Yellow House for several months, during which time their arguments over art escalated to the virulent stage. Van Gogh also suffers from manic depression, a serious mental illness characterized by dramatic mood swings from very high highs to very low lows. Unfortunately, the time of the quarrel with Gauguin coincided with one of Van Goghs low periods, causing him to be almost prostrate with despair. Van Gogh wrapped the piece of ear in a sheet of newspaper and gives it to a local prostitute, an action that causes outrage among the local populace and prompted his brother Theo, with whom he had a very close relationship, to encourage Van Gogh to commit himself to an asylum. The flamboyance of the event was unfortunate in many ways, but primarily because it became the event most associated with the name of Van Gogh and tended to diminish the importance of his work in the eyes of many.
Possible Solution The appropriate verb forms have been presented in bold type below. In some cases there is more than one possible solution though the meaning of the sentence will change slightly with different verb forms. Vincent Van Gogh is probably most well known in America for cutting off a large piece of his own ear with a razor in a fit of rage after a violent quarrel with Paul Gauguin, with whom he was sharing a house at the time. While trying to establish an artists colony in the South of France, Gauguin and Van Gogh had lived together in the Yellow House for several months, during which time their arguments over art had escalated to the virulent stage. Van Gogh also suffered from manic depression, a serious mental illness characterized by dramatic mood swings from very high highs to very low lows. Unfortunately, the time of the quarrel with Gauguin coincided with one of Van Goghs low periods, causing him to be almost prostrate with despair. Van Gogh wrapped the piece of ear in a sheet of newspaper and gave it to a local prostitute, an action that caused outrage among the local populace and prompted his brother Theo, with whom he had a very close relationship, to encourage Van Gogh to commit himself to an asylum. The flamboyance of the event was unfortunate in many ways, but primarily because it has become the event most associated with the name of Van Gogh and has tended to diminish the importance of his work in the eyes of many.

Copyright 2003 by the Academic Center and the University of Houston-Victoria. Created 2003 by Sandra Heinold. Revised 2005.

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