The Importance of Tense Consistency in Writing

Before the impending snowstorm, it was essential to insulate the pipes to prevent them from freezing in the coming year.

Were you confused by the opening sentence? If you found yourself reading it multiple times for clarity, it is likely due to the inconsistent use of verb tenses. Mixing past, present, and future tenses within one sentence can disrupt the flow of your writing.

While the example above may seem exaggerated, even minor errors in tense consistency can significantly impact the readability of your writing.

What Exactly is Tense Consistency?

Tense consistency refers to maintaining the same verb tense within a clause, sentence, or paragraph. It ensures that the timing of each expression in writing remains consistent, making the sequence of events clearer and maintaining a consistent tone.

A Quick Review of Verb Tenses

If English is not your first language, you are likely familiar with the complexity of English verb tenses. Before diving into tense consistency, it is helpful to review the primary verb tenses in English.

Verb tense indicates the timeframe in which an action takes place. The three primary verb tenses are past, present, and future. While English grammar has more complex tenses, the most critical distinctions to remember are between past, present, and future.

The progressive tense, also known as continuous, is formed by combining "to be" with the present participle form of a verb (e.g., I am running). The future tense is often indicated by words such as "going to" or "about to."

Why Tense Consistency is Essential

The timeline of verb tenses, image from flaticon

Now that we have reviewed the different verb tenses, you may be wondering why tense consistency matters in writing. Tense consistency plays a crucial role in enhancing the clarity, flow, and organization of your writing.

Tense consistency establishes a clear timeline for your writing, making it easier for readers to understand. Inconsistent verb tenses can confuse and make it challenging to follow the sequence of events. By maintaining a consistent tense, your writing flows more logically and maintains a clear focus.

Furthermore, writing with tense consistency involves carefully choosing your wording to maintain the timeline. This adds clarity to your writing and makes the purpose of your writing more apparent.

Examples of Tense Consistency

The best way to illustrate the importance of tense consistency is by providing examples of tense inconsistency. These examples demonstrate the impact of inconsistent verb tenses on a sentence and offer suggestions for correcting them.

Inconsistency: She grabbed the stapler and throws it at the cockroach on the wall.

This sentence uses both the past tense verb "grabbed" and the present tense verb "throws" in the same clause. To make it more consistent, we can either change "grabbed" to its present tense form or "throws" to its past tense form.

Correction: She grabs the stapler and throws it at the cockroach on the wall. OR She grabbed the stapler and threw it at the cockroach on the wall.

As seen in this simple fix, the inconsistency was noticeable because it occurred within the same clause. Let's look at another example, where the inconsistency is at the sentence level.

Inconsistency: If they had known that you were in town, they would reserve an extra seat at the restaurant for you.

This example is less obvious, but reading it carefully reveals the use of different verb tenses. "Had known" is in the past perfect tense, while "reserve" is in the present tense.

Correction: If they knew that you were in town, they would reserve an extra seat at the restaurant for you. OR If they had known that you were in town, they would have reserved an extra seat at the restaurant for you.

Inconsistent verb tenses can create confusion for readers and make sentences sound awkward. Tense consistency is essential for clear and effective writing. Let's explore some examples of tense inconsistency and how it can be corrected.

Example: I will leave Santa Fe at 6 a.m. so that I arrived in Colorado Springs before it got dark.

To maintain consistency, we can either change 'will leave' to the past tense or change 'arrived' and 'got' to the future tense.

Correction: I left Santa Fe at 6 a.m. so that I arrived in Colorado Springs before it got dark.

Correction: I will leave Santa Fe at 6 a.m. so that I arrive in Colorado Springs before it gets dark.

But wait, in the second correction, 'arrive' and 'gets' appear to be in present tense, not future tense. This is because present tense can indicate future events. For example, in "I'm going to Europe next year," 'going' is in the present tense but it refers to a future event. As you can see, verb tenses can be complex in English!

Guidelines for Maintaining Tense Consistency

Now that we have seen examples of how tense consistency can impact a sentence, let's explore the guidelines for maintaining tense consistency in writing.

Is Tense Consistency Always Necessary?

Not necessarily. In some cases, tense inconsistency may actually make more sense than tense consistency. Here are some situations where tense consistency is not necessary:

• When changing verb tense helps clarify the timeline of events.
• When quoting outside sources.

Let's take a closer look at these scenarios. In this example, changing the verb tense actually improves the clarity of the sentence.

"You're about to bowl a perfect game, just like Zarita did last month!"

In the first clause, 'about to bowl' is in future tense, while in the second clause, 'did' is in past tense. Would changing one of these verbs to make the tense consistent improve the sentence? Let's see:

"You're about to bowl a perfect game, just like Zarita will last month!"

"You bowled a perfect game, just like Zarita did last month!"

Unlike our previous examples, these changes in verb tense alter the meaning of the sentence. With complete tense consistency, the intended meaning is lost. In this case, the inconsistency in verb tense is necessary for the sentence to make sense.

Verb tense inconsistency is also acceptable in direct quotes. When quoting a source, it's important to maintain the original verb tense, even if it results in tense inconsistency in your writing. It is not recommended to change the tense of your writing to match the quote, as this can create even more inconsistency. Let's look at an example:

Virginia Woolf was a brilliant and influential advocate for women's rights and education. In her 1929 essay "A Room of One's Own," she wrote, "There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind."1

The paragraph introduces the quote in the past tense ('was' and 'wrote') and the quote itself is in present tense ('is' and 'can set').

The purpose of a direct quote is to accurately depict what someone said. For this reason, it is not appropriate to change the verb tense inside quotation marks. However, you can still try to make the tense more consistent. For instance, changing the beginning of the paragraph to present tense to match the quote:

Virginia Woolf is a brilliant and influential advocate for women's rights and education. In her 1929 essay "A Room of One's Own," she writes...

While this may not sound incorrect, it could be misleading as it implies that Virginia Woolf is still alive. In this case, maintaining the original verb tense in the quote is the best option for accuracy.

Why Tense Consistency is Important in Writing

Tense consistency is crucial in maintaining clarity within a clause, sentence, or paragraph. While it is important to follow this rule in most cases, there are exceptions where an inconsistency in tense can actually improve sentence clarity. Let's take a closer look at how tense consistency impacts writing.

Tips for Maintaining Tense Consistency

When it comes to tense consistency at the paragraph level, the rule is simple: choose a tense and stick with it.

Consistency is Key: Maintaining Tense Throughout Your Writing

When it comes to writing, one important aspect that often goes overlooked is tense consistency. By keeping the same tense throughout a paragraph, your work becomes more readable and easier to follow. In order to achieve this consistency, there are some general guidelines to follow.

• For argumentative essays, it is best to use the present tense. This applies to persuasive elements in rhetorical analysis, argumentation, synthesis, and other essay styles.
• When describing the results of a study, use the past tense as the study has already been completed. This ensures a logical timeline.
• Direct quotes may have a different tense than the rest of the paragraph, but this can actually improve sentence clarity. Use them sparingly and with purpose.
• In the end, the best judgment should be used to ensure clear and logical sentences with consistent tense usage.

Tips for Improving Tense Consistency

To maintain tense consistency in your writing, regularly check your usage of verb tenses. Here are some steps to follow after completing a paragraph:

• Underline all the verbs in the paragraph.
• Take note of the tense of each verb.
• If there are multiple tense changes, consider rephrasing to match the others or separating them into different clauses or sentences.

By following these simple tips, your writing will become more consistent and easier to read.

Key Points to Remember

• Tense consistency refers to using the same verb tense within a clause, sentence, or paragraph.
• Consistency in tense improves writing by creating a clear timeline, logical flow, and achieving added clarity.
• In certain cases, a slight inconsistency in tense can actually enhance sentence clarity, especially when using direct quotes.
• Trust your judgment when deciding on tense consistency in your writing to produce clear and logical sentences.
• To maintain tense consistency, regularly check your use of verb tenses and make necessary changes to ensure consistency throughout your writing.