Unnecessary Shift in Verb Tense

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Tense refers to the form of a verb that indicates time. When narrating a story, changes in verb tense helps readers understand the relationships among timed events. However, unnecessary or inconsistent shifts in tense can cause the reader to become confused and have an unclear sense of when something is happening. Actions being described should take place in the same time period. For example, “Yesterday I made spaghetti, and it tastes good,” is an incorrect sentence. A better sentence would be, “Yesterday I made spaghetti, and it tasted good.”

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Related The Ten Most Important Writing Mistakes to Avoid Articles

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• The Ten Most Important Writing Mistakes to Avoid Overview
• Common Word Misuse
• Common Punctuation Errors
• Capitalization Errors
• Misspelled Words
• Unnecessary Shift in Verb Tense
• Unnecessary Shift in Person
• Lack of Organization in an Article
• Incorrect Information
• Writing to Impress
• Not Having a Conclusion to Article