Shifts in Verb Tense Verbs are like bridges: they span the past, present, and future and take you there.
Maintaining Verb Tense Consistency In any piece of writing, the actions or states expressed by the verbs are within a particular time frame, most often past or present. Shifts in tense occur to indicate changes in the temporal relationships among the events or states described by the writer. Whenever there is a change in these temporal relationships, the verb tense must change accordingly. When writers shift tense inconsistently or fail to shift tense when necessary, they confuse their readers.
Note the relationship of past to past perfect, present to present perfect, and future to future perfect in the examples below:
♦ Past Narration A man had a vision to build a suspension bridge across the San Francisco straits. People thought he was crazy. By the time it was built four-and-one-half years later, he had silenced his critics and astounded the world.
♦ Present Narration A man has a vision to build a suspension bridge across the San Francisco straits. People think he is crazy, but
by the time it is built, he has silenced his critics and astounded the world.
♦ Present/Future Narration A man has a vision to build a suspension bridge across the San Francisco straits. Some people think he's crazy. Other people believe that by the time it's built , he will have silenced his critics and astounded the world.
The table below contains general guidelines for controlling shifts in verb tense.
I. When verbs share the same time frame, keep the tense consistent. Do not shift tense. Click the verb that shows an inconsistent shift in tense in the examples below.
Examples: The Golden Gate bridge spans a treacherous portal where strong Pacific ocean currents collide with Northern California's freshwater rivers and streams that rushed rush into San Francisco Bay.
The narrow strait between Marin County and San Francisco is a tumultuous body of water that is more than 330 feet deep and a mile and a quarter wide. Fog often blanketedblankets the bridge, and high winds up to 60 miles per hour whip through the strait.
II. When the time frame changes from one activity or state to the next, shift the verb tense to correspond to the new time frame. Click the verb that should show a shift to earlier past time.
Examples: Construction began on January 5, 1933 under Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer. Many people thought the suspension span he envisioned could not possibly be built. Four-and-one-half years later the bridge was completed, and the result astounded those who werehad been Strauss's fiercest critics.
Strauss took elaborate measures to ensure the safety of the bridge workers, even spending $130,000 on a safety net which was suspended under the bridge to break any falls. However, it wasn't strong enough to sustain a five-ton platform that went off its rails and plummeted 220 feet into the water below. Of the twelve men who fell, only two survived. Days later, the safety net was recovered. Tides carriedhad carried it a mile out to sea and 500 feet below the surface. The body of one of the victims was found tangled within it.
To read more about one of the most spectacular bridges in the world, open this link to the [Golden Gate][Close Web link] [open new window]
Shifts in Verb Tense