Keeping Your Tense Consistent

Goal Stay in the same tense when you write, unless the time really changes. Stories are usually written in the PAST tense. Essays about texts are usually written in the PRESENT tense.

INCONSISTENT "Maya walked into the room. She sees a strange box and picks it up."

CONSISTENT "Maya walked into the room. She saw a strange box and picked it up."

WHY PRESENT TENSE FOR ESSAYS?
The events in a book are always "happening" when someone reads them.

"In the novel, the main character learns that ..." (not "learned")

COMMON IRREGULAR PAST VERBS

go-went, see-saw, take-took, run-ran, think-thought, bring-brought,
catch-caught, begin-began, write-wrote, find-found

PRACTICE

Rewrite in the past tense:
"Leo runs to the station. He thinks he is late, but the train is not there yet."

Show answer

"Leo ran to the station. He thought he was late, but the train was not there yet."

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