Using Phrases Language Network Using Verbs Language Network.

Using Phrases

Language Network

Using Verbs

Language Network

Using Verbs

Using Verb Tenses

Here’s the IdeaUsing Simple TensesUsing Perfect Tenses

Why It Matters

Practice and Apply

Verb Tense

A tense is a verb form that shows the time of an action or condition.

Here’s the Idea

English verbs have six tenses.

Simple Tenses Present, Past, Future

Perfect Tenses Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect

Here’s the Idea

Use tenses to indicate whether an action or condition is in the past, the present, or the future, and to indicate how events are related in time.

Here’s the Idea

The present tense shows that an action or condition

I like to read about real-life adventures.

• is occurring in the present

• occurs regularly

• is constantly or generally true

like

Here’s the Idea

Yossi Ghinsberg explored the rain forests near the Tuichi River.

explored

The past tense shows that an action or condition occurred in the past.

Here’s the Idea

The future tense shows that an action or condition will occur in the future.

When you get to the part where Yossi has been left in the rain forest, you will be eager to find out what happens to him.

will be

Here’s the Idea

The present perfect shows that an action or condition

So far, I have learned that Yossi is a young Israeli man who is on an adventure through the rain forests of Bolivia.

have learned

• was completed at one or more indefinite times in the past

• began in the past and continues in the present

Here’s the Idea

The past perfect shows that an action or condition in the past preceded another past action or condition.

After the men had experienced difficult travel for several weeks, two of them gave up and headed back to civilization on foot.

had experienced

Here’s the Idea

The future perfect shows that an action or condition in the future will precede another future action or condition.

You may wonder if any wild animals will have attacked Yossi before he reaches the nearest village. will have attacked

Here’s the Idea

Choosing the correct verb tense allows you to be clear about when events occur in time.

Why It Matters

Replace the underlined verb with the correct tense.

Even now, William Shakespeare has ranked as the greatest writer in English.

1.

Practice and Apply


Shakespeare has grown up in a middle-class family.

2.

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When theaters closed because of the plague, Shakespeare writes poetry.

3.

Practice and Apply


Not much was known today about his private life.

4.

Practice and Apply

Using Verbs

Shifts in Tense

Here’s the Idea

Why It Matters

Practice and Apply

Switch tenses only as needed for clarity or style. Improper or unnecessary shifts will make your writing awkward and confusing.

Here’s the Idea

Stick with one tense when describing actions related to a single period or event or when writing about a series of events.

Michiko finished her history assignment and turned on a public television channel.

PAST TENSE

finished

PAST TENSE

turned

Here’s the Idea

When you are describing an event as a point of reference for another event, you can shift from a perfect tense to a simple tense.

Michiko had been at the library for an hour when she found a book about Alaska.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

had beenfound

PAST TENSE

Here’s the Idea

Mixing verb tenses unnecessarily can confuse your readers.

Keep verb tenses consistent unless you have a good reason not to.

Why It Matters

Choose the correct form of the verb in parentheses.

Sandra Cisneros (grows, grew) up in Chicago.

5.

Practice and Apply


Because she felt lonely as a child, Cisneros (read, will read) books for comfort.

6.

Practice and Apply


By the time Cisneros published her first book, she already (spent, had spent) time teaching high-school dropouts.

7.

Practice and Apply


Cisneros’s readers enjoy her books, which (combine, combined) fiction

and poetry.

8.

Practice and Apply

Active and Passive Voice

Using Verbs

Here’s the Idea

Why It Matters

Practice and Apply

A group of 16 countries constructed the International Space Station.

When a verb’s subject performs the action expressed by the verb, the verb is in the active voice.

PERFORMER OF ACTION

group of 16 countriesVERB

constructed

Here’s the Idea

The International Space Station was constructed by a group of 16 countries.

When a verb’s subject receives the action expressed by a verb, the verb is in the passive voice.

RECEIVER OF ACTION

The International Space Station was constructedVERB

Here’s the Idea

Use the passive voice only when you want to emphasize the receiver of the action or when the performer of the action is not known.

Here’s the Idea

The space station is being visited by astronauts.The space station is being visited by astronauts.

Here’s how to change passive voice to active voice:

1. Determine the verb and the performer 1. of the action.

Here’s the Idea

2. Move the performer of the action 2. before the verb and change the verb 2. to the active voice.

Astronauts is visiting the space station.Astronauts is visiting the space station.

Here’s the Idea

3. Make sure the verb agrees in number 2. with the new subject.

Astronauts are visiting the space station.Astronauts are visiting the space station.

Here’s the Idea

If you use the passive voice too often, it can make your writing vague and lifeless.

Why It Matters

Rewrite the sentence to change the verb from the passive voice to the active voice.

Numerous plays and short stories were written by Kurt Vonnegut.

9.

Practice and Apply


Vonnegut was captured by the Germans during World War II.

10.

Practice and Apply


He was assigned by his captors to work in Dresden, Germany.

11.

Practice and Apply


This experience was described by Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse Five.

12.

Practice and Apply

Using Phrases Language Network Using Verbs Language Network.

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