TACHS: Verb tense: keep the timeline straight
Spot verbs that jump to the wrong time or use the wrong form, including had with the earlier past event and irregular forms like had gone.
How do I tell when a verb in a short passage is in the wrong tense?
Short answer
Use the time words to set the main time, keep each verb in that time unless the meaning changes, and use had plus the past participle for a past event that finished before another one.
Know first: Past and present tense, Common irregular verbs
Step 1 of 6
Time words set the tense
Verb tense tells the reader when something happens. A passage about last week stays in the past, and a passage about a weekly routine stays in the present. A verb that jumps to a different time without a reason is an error.
Time words are your clues: yesterday, every Friday, by the time, by next Monday. Read all the lines first to find the main time, then check each verb against it.
| Time clue | Verb form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yesterday, last week | Simple past | Yesterday we rode the train. |
| every day, usually | Present | Every day she feeds the fish. |
| by the time + a past event | had + past participle | By the time we arrived, the show had started. |
| by next week + a future deadline | will have + past participle | By June, I will have saved enough. |
Has and have point to the present. In a story about the past, the earlier event takes had.
Step 2 of 6
Find the verb that breaks the timeline
Worked example: A summer garden
Which line contains an error in standard written English? Choose No error if all three lines are correct.
Line 1: Last spring, our class planted a row of sunflowers.
Line 2: By the time summer vacation started, the stalks have grown taller than the fence.
Line 3: We measured the tallest one with a tape measure.
- ALine 1
- BLine 2
- CLine 3
- DNo error
- 1
Set the main time
Last spring, planted, measured: the passage is in the past.
- 2
Check Line 2
Two past events: vacation started, and the stalks grew before that. The earlier event needs had grown. Have grown jumps to the present.
- 3
Check Lines 1 and 3
Both use the simple past for single past events. Correct.
- 4
See why the other choices are there
Have grown uses a correct participle, so it looks fine on its own. Students who judge each line alone, without the main time, choose No error.
Answer
Line 2. It should read the stalks had grown taller than the fence.
Step 3 of 6
Irregular verbs change form after had
Some verbs use one form for the simple past and a different form after had, has or have. The second form is the past participle. Writing the simple past after had is a common error in these lines.
| Verb | Simple past | After had |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | had gone |
| write | wrote | had written |
| take | took | had taken |
| ride | rode | had ridden |
| begin | began | had begun |
| bring | brought | had brought |
Wrong: By noon, she had wrote three letters.
Right: By noon, she had written three letters.
After had, use the past participle. Wrote is the simple past and stands alone: She wrote three letters.
Step 4 of 6
Check each verb against the main time
Check yourself · Question 1
Which line contains an error in standard written English? Choose No error if all three lines are correct.
Line 1: Last night the storm knocked a branch onto our fence.
Line 2: My father had already went outside with a flashlight.
Line 3: He dragged the branch to the curb.
Answer: B
After had, the verb needs the past participle: had already gone. Went is the simple past.
Check yourself · Question 2
Which line contains an error in standard written English? Choose No error if all three lines are correct.
Line 1: By the end of June, the library will have moved to its new building.
Line 2: Workers started packing the shelves last month.
Line 3: Until the move is finished, the bookmobile will visit our street.
Answer: D
Each verb fits its own time: will have moved finishes by a future deadline, started happened last month, and will visit describes the time before the move ends.
Trap answer: Line 1
An unfamiliar tense that is correct
- Why it looks right
- Will have moved is long and less common, so it looks like a mistake.
- Why it's wrong
- By plus a future deadline calls for exactly this form: something will be finished before that date.
- The right answer
- No error. Each line's verb matches its own time clue.
Common mistake
Changing every verb in a past story to the simple past, so had finished becomes finished.
- Why it's tempting
- If the story is in the past, it seems every verb should look the same.
- Do this instead
- Had plus a past participle is correct when one past event finished before another. Look for by the time, before or already.
Step 5 of 6
What to remember
Remember
- Read all the lines first to find the main time: past, present routine or future.
- For a past event that finished before another past event, use had plus the past participle.
- After had, has or have, use the participle: gone, written, taken.
Step 6 of 6
Practice on a real question
Use what you just learned on this question, then check the explanation.
Try another one
In your own words
In the practice question, which two past events were in the line with the error, and which one happened first?