Identify and correct tense errors, choosing the correct past, present or future form and keeping the tense consistent within a passage

What this dot point is asking

SEAB wants you to find and fix tense errors in the Editing section of Paper 1. Tense shows when something happens: past, present or future. Two skills are tested. First, choosing the correct form of the verb for the time (went, not go, for yesterday). Second, keeping the tense consistent within a passage, so a story told in the past stays in the past. Tense errors are among the most common in the Editing section, and time words usually give you the clue you need.

The answer

The three main tenses

The three main tenses are past (what already happened: walked, ate, was), present (what happens now or generally: walks, eats, is), and future (what will happen: will walk, will eat, will be). Each verb in a sentence should be in the tense that matches when the action takes place.

Use time words as clues

Time words signal the tense. Words like "yesterday", "last week", "ago" and "in 2020" point to the past. Words like "now", "today", "currently" and "these days" point to the present. Words like "tomorrow", "next week" and "soon" point to the future. When you see a time word, check the verb matches it: "yesterday I went" (not "go").

Form the past tense correctly

Many tense errors come from forming the past tense wrongly. Regular verbs add -ed (walk to walked, finish to finished). Irregular verbs change form (go to went, eat to ate, see to saw). After "has" or "have", use the past participle ("has finished", "have eaten"), not the base form ("has finish").

Keep the tense consistent

Within a passage, stay in one tense unless there is a reason to change. If a recount is in the past tense, do not suddenly slip into the present. "I walked into the room and there is a cake" is inconsistent; it should be "there was a cake". Read the passage and check the tense does not jump about.

Examples in context

Example 1. A past-tense recount. "We arrived at the beach, set up our mat, and then I see a crab." The recount is in the past ("arrived", "set up"), so "see" is inconsistent and should be "saw". Keeping the whole recount in the past tense makes it read smoothly and correctly.

Example 2. A general present-tense fact. "Water boils at 100 degrees, but yesterday the kettle boil very slowly." The first part is a general truth in the present ("boils"), which is correct, but "boil" in the second part needs the past tense "boiled" because of "yesterday". The two clauses need the tense each time word demands.

Try this

• Cue. Correct: "Last year, we travel to Malaysia." "Last year" signals the past, so it should be "we travelled to Malaysia."

• Cue. Fix the verb after has: "She has went home." After "has", use the past participle: "She has gone home."

• Cue. Explain why "I was reading when the lights go out" is wrong. The sentence is in the past ("was reading"), so "go" must change to "went" to keep the tense consistent: "when the lights went out".