English
Guidelines for Verb Tense

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• Use present tense for statements that, although they may be introduced by past-tense verbs, continue to be true; eg., What did you say her name is? (Use the present tense is if her name has not changed.)
• Avoid unnecessary shifts in verb tenses; eg., The student saw (not sees) a great deal of homework yet to be completed, and she stayed late in the library to complete it.
• Although unnecessary shifts in verb tense are to be avoided, not all the verbs within one sentence have to be in the same tense; eg., Harriet said (past tense) that she enjoys (present tense) dancing.
• Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs do not form the past tense and past participle by adding –ed to the present form. For example, the following is a partial list of troublesome irregular verbs:

Present	Past	Past Participle (Always use helping verbs)
begin break choose come drink go ring see write	began broke chose came drank went rang saw wrote	begun broken chosen come drunk gone rung seen written

• Use only past-tense verbs to express past tense.  No helping verbs are used to indicate simple past tense; eg., The accountants went (not have went) over the books carefully.  He came (not come) to visit us last week.
• Use past participle forms for action completed before the present time.  Past participle forms require helping verbs; eg., Jane had gone (not went) before we arrived.  (The past participle gone is used with the helping verb had.)
• Avoid inconsistent shifts in subject, voice, and mood.  The following sentences illustrate these inconsistencies:
  
  
  1. All employees must wear uniforms, and you must also use the designated parking spaces (inconsistent shift in subject from all employees in the first clause to you in the second clause).  All employees must wear uniforms, and they must also use the designated parking spaces (both clauses have the same subject).
  2. When Mr. Marcos read the document, the error was found (the first clause is in the active voice; the second, passive). When Mr. Marcos read the document, he found the error (both clauses are in the active voice).
  3. Begin the procedure by entering the client’s name; then you enter his or her code name (inconsistent shift from the imperative mood in the first clause to the indicative mood in the second clause). Begin the procedure by entering the client’s name; then enter his or her code name (both clauses are now in the imperative mood).