Tenses
What are tenses? They are a term applied to a verb, which is an action word in writing. Merriam-Webster online states that in grammar, a tense is “a … form of a verb expressing a specific time distinction.”
When you look at the different tenses of a verb, you are said to be “conjugating” the verb. Big word, eh?
(HERE is a helpful site for conjugating any English verb)
For an example, we’ll use the verb “to walk.” The differing tenses, or conjugations, of “to walk” are: walk, walks, walked, walking. You can also use “helper” verbs to indicate more tenses: am walking, is walking, have walked, had walked, will be walking, etc.
“I walk” is present tense. That means it’s being done right now.
“I walked” is past tense. That means it has been done in the past.
“I will be walking” or “I will walk” is future tense. That means it will be done at a later time.
There are other tenses, but these are the simplest and most commonly used ones.
Most books are written in past tense, and the active verbs are therefore written in past tense:
-
She walked to the store and bought some groceries.
Sometimes books are written in the present tense. This is an example:
-
She walks to the store and buys some groceries.
Whatever style you use, you may find that occasionally you make an error and mix your tenses in a sentence:
-
She walked to the store and buys some groceries.
This can most often happen in books that use present tense, since it’s more natural to talk about things in past tense, but it sometimes happens in books that use past tense, too. Dialogue can be written in a mixture of past, present, and future tense, which can be confusing:
“Let’s walk to the store and buy some groceries,” said Barbara.
“But we just went yesterday.” Sylvia whined. “We will walk tomorrow and then we will buy what we need.”
As you can see, the tenses are mixed in the dialogue sentences, but they fit the situation. Barbara says, “Let’s walk,” which is present tense. She wants to go now. Whiny Sylvia says they just “went” yesterday. Since it happened previously, that’s past tense. She wants to go tomorrow—“we will walk”—which would be the future tense. “Walk” doesn’t have a different form for the future tense, so Sylvia has to add the helper verb “will” to indicate future tense.
Mixed tenses that are incorrect would generally be found in narrative writing, not dialogue. Science fiction, fantasy, or historical writing that has time changes can be very confusing when it comes to keeping tenses on track!
Next week we’ll discuss ‘Split Infinitives and Dangling Participles’
To see the index and catch up with missed episodes of this series – CLICK HERE
NOTE:
This series is not meant to be (nor will it be) simple static information.
I’ll be here for each post to answer questions, offer suggestions as necessary, and interact with you.
If there’s something you specifically want (or need!) to see addressed in terms of self-editing, please let me know in the comments under this, or any of the articles of the series.
Susan
EDITING – NON-EDITING – BOOK FORMATTING
Other Links:
Reblogged this on TheKingsKidChronicles and commented:
This is great information for writers. No matter how good we are (or not) at grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc., it’s best to have a set of fresh eyes to look at what you’ve written to check for continuity and clarity of message. Find that help at the site mentioned on this blog. Reblogged from https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing Aleta 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading and sharing, Aleta! I’m glad you appreciate the information. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on The Owl Lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Viv 😀
LikeLike
Many thanks, Viv! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing Traci 👍😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, thank you, Traci!
(Ape, how do you “reply” to a pingback? There is no reply button. Or is this something only admins can do?)
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can click on the pingback and leave a comment on the site there, Susan 🐵
LikeLiked by 1 person
But how did you thank Traci HERE??
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah – I used my admin to follow the pingback to check where it was from, saw it was from Traci, so came back to thank her here, Susan 🤔
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, thank you for this. My tenses are one of the things that trip me up all the time.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re welcome, Adele! Thanks for letting me know it was useful! 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good tips. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for reading, TE! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Writing for the Whole Darn Universe.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yippee! 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
I thought the whole universe needed to relax a bit because they were too “Tense.” 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
😄😄😄
LikeLike
*groan*!!! Lol! Good one! I didn’t have a snappy comeback for the whole darn universe this week. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ha! That’s okay. The whole darn universe is just happy you’re sharing your excellent writing and editing knowledge with us. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing Malia Ann 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another great useful article straightening out tenses which as you say can get confused over the course of a long passage of writing, or even when you refer back to a previous passage
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, flashbacks and quoted/remembered speech can definitely get very confusing! Thanks for reading and commenting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented:
Here is a helpful post from Adirondack Editing on tenses from the Story Reading Ape blog. Do you know why camping is like writing? You go past tents…sorry for that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for reblogging Don 👍😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahaha! Good one! Camping is very stressful, too…in tents. 😀
Thanks for sharing and commenting!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like your post, Susan, as I’ve liked all of your posts and will certainly like those in the future 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
I find writers of present tense have a hard time keeping it together. Harder than it looks. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, Tess, it is much harder than it looks! It seems as if the human brain is hardwired to tell stories in the past tense. When editing present-tense material, I have to be on the sharp lookout for any slips into past. Errors can even be hard to see for the editor!
Some people really dislike present-tense material, but I enjoy it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I enjoy it but sometimes it doesn’t feel right for the story. Eke.
LikeLiked by 2 people