EXERCISE 7. WRITE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE NOUN IN PARENTHESES AS REQUI...
10. Ten of the hotel’s (doorman) ____________________ worked on Sunday.
Lesson 22 Problems with
Verbs
Every sentence has at least one verb. When you construct sentences, you have to pay
close attention to the verbs. You must choose the correct tense of the verb and make the
verb agree with its subject. The following discussion centers on these aspects of verbs. The
lesson ends with a review of some verb pairs that are especially troublesome.
Using the Correct Tense
Question:What is “tense”?
Answer: Tense means “time.”The form of a verb shows the time of the action that the verb expresses. Be sure to use
the correct tense in your writing.
PRESENT TENSE
: A statue of Thomas Jefferson stands in
Washington, D.C.
PAST TENSE
: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super
Bowl in 2003.
FUTURE TENSE
: Taryn will go to the dentist at five o’clock
this afternoon.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
: The Pyramids have lasted for thousands of
years.
PAST PERFECT TENSE
: By late afternoon, all the guests had left.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
: By the year 2020, people’s taste in popular
music will have changed.
Staying with the Same Tense
A common mistake is to mix the present and the past in a sentence. Stick to the same
tense. Study the two examples to see how to correct errors.
MIXED TENSES
: I lose my keys and waited for my mother to come home.
present
past
SAME TENSE
: I lose my keys and wait for my mother to come home.
present
present
SAME TENSE
: I lost my keys and waited for my mother to come home.
past
past
P R O B L E M S W I T H V E R B S 175MIXED TENSES
: Because she misses the bus, she walked to school.
SAME TENSE
: Because she misses the bus, she walks to school.
SAME TENSE