Transcript Chapter 21: Verb Shifts - Owensboro Community & Technical

Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
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Verbs tell about time and when events occurs.
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Future time: He will run to the park.
Past time: Ralph was my neighbor.
Present time: The cake tastes delicious.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
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Verb Tense Chart
Past perfect
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had + -ed furthest in the past; happened before
verb form
another past action
Past Perfect Tense Example: The Easter Bunny had hopped down the trail.
2.
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Past
-ed verb form
in the past, happened before now
Past Tense Example: The Easter Bunny hopped down the trail.
3.
Present perfect
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have or has +
in the past, but extending to present
-ed verb form
Present Perfect Tense Example: The Easter Bunny has hopped down the trail.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
4.
Present
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base verb form or happens regularly or often, or is
base verb + -s
happening now
Present Tense Example: The Easter Bunny hops down the trail.
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Future perfect
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will have + -ed
happens in the future but before
verb form
another event
Future Perfect Tense Example: The Easter Bunny will have hopped down the trail.
6.
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Future
will + base verb
happens at some time in the future
Future Tense Example: The Easter Bunny will hop down the trail.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Consistent Verb Tenses
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Staying in one tense (unless you have reason to change tenses) is called
consistency of verb tense.
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Wrong shift in tense: The waitress ran to the kitchen, raced back to her
customers with drinks, and smiles calmly.
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Correct consistent tense: The waitress ran to the kitchen, raced back to her
customers with drinks, and smiled calmly. (The tenses should be the same in a
sentence; this sentence has consistent past tense.)
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Correct consistent tense: The waitress runs to the kitchen, races back to her
customers with drinks, and smiles calmly. (The tenses should be the same in a
sentence; this sentence has consistent present tense.)
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Providing Necessary Tense Shifts
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Another type of verb error can occur when writers need to shift from the past to
the more distant past and use past perfect tense.
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Example: By the time I arrived at the lake, they finished sailing.
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This is incorrect because they had finished sailing before I arrived at the lake,
even though both situations occurred in the past.
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Example Corrected: By the time I arrived (past tense) at the lake, they had
finished (past perfect tense) sailing.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Passive and Active Voice
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Active voice: when the subject of the sentence is doing something
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Passive voice: when something is done to the subject
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Active voice: I painted the house. (I, the subject, did it.)
Active voice: The people on the corner made a donation to the emergency fund.
(The people, the subject, did it.)
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Passive voice: The house was painted by me. (The house, the subject, didn’t do
anything. It received the action; it was painted.)
Passive voice: A donation to the emergency fun was made by the people on the
corner. (The donation, the subject, didn’t do anything. It received the action; it
was given.)
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Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Avoiding Unnecessary Shifts in Voice
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Do not shift from active voice to passive voice, or from passive voice to active
voice.
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Wrong, a shift in voice: I designed (active) the decorations for the dance, and
they were (passive) arranged by Charles.
Correct: I designed (active) the decorations for the dance, and Charles arranged
(active) them.
Correct: The decorations for the dance were (passive) designed by me, and they
were (passive) arranged by Charles.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Exercises
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Identify and correct the incorrect uses of verbs.
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Kirsten has curly ringlets in her hair, and she have dimples on her cheeks.
Kirsten has curly ringlets in her hair, and she has dimples on her cheeks.
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On the last holiday weekend, the police do everything to stop drunk drivers from
injuring other drivers.
On the last holiday weekend, the police did everything to stop drunk drivers from
injuring other drivers.
A.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Exercises
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Identify and correct the incorrect uses of verbs.
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The wedding gown was not ready when we was supposed to pick it up.
The wedding gown was not ready when we were supposed to pick it up.
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Yesterday, I won the lottery; now I felt happy.
Yesterday, I won the lottery; now I feel happy.
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Before I began my homework, I ate an entire bowl of popcorn.
Before I began my homework, I had eaten an entire bowl of popcorn.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Exercises
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Identify and correct the incorrect uses of verbs.
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Even before we arrived at the ice rink, Millicent spent all her money.
Even before we arrived at the ice rink, Millicent had spent all her money.
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Every day the zookeeper feeds the animals and cleaned their cages.
Every day the zookeeper feeds the animals and cleans their cages.
Chapter 21: Verb Shifts
Exercises
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Identify and correct the incorrect uses of verbs.
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Ashley bought the boots, but the boots were given to Nikki by Ashley.
Ashley bought the boots, but she gave the boots to Nikki.
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Alyssa and Madelyn walked home, and each eats a granola bar.
Alyssa and Madelyn walked home, and each ate a granola bar.
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Evan prepared the birdhouse, and then the birdhouse was painted by Nathaniel.
Evan prepared the birdhouse, and then Nathaniel painted it.