Besides subject-verb agreement, the GMAT also tests for Verb Tense, Mood and Voice. As I start this I'm thinking, "Why the hell?".
Verb Tense Indicates when the action is taking place.
Verb Mood Indicates what the author believes about, or wants to do with, the action. Verb Moods are of two kinds: Indicative and Subjunctive.
- The major share of Verb Moods we come across are Indicative which convey knowledge or beliefs
- The remaining Verb Moods, which are Subjunctive, convey desires, or suggestions, or hypothetical events
- Active Voice - The subject of the sentence performs the action
- Passive Voice - The subject of the sentence has an action performed on it by someone or something else
Simple Tenses
There are three kinds of simple tenses:
SIMPLE PRESENT - Jane PLAYS basketball well
SIMPLE PAST - Jane PLAYED basketball well
SIMPLE FUTURE - Jane WILL PLAY basketball well
Simple Tenses convey "eternal" states or frequent events. In all three examples it does not refer to a specific time when Jane is playing, or played, or will play basketball well, but refers to a general rule that Jane plays basketball well.
Progressive Tenses
To emphasize the ongoing nature of an activity we use the Progressive Tenses, which use the verb form to be or the participle (-ing) form.
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE - Matt IS PLAYING soccer
PAST PROGRESSIVE - Matt WAS PLAYING soccer yesterday
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE - Matt WILL BE PLAYING soccer tomorrow
Present Progressive tense indicates that the action being spoken is happening right now, whether or not the sentence uses the word to suggest it. Whereas, when it was discussed in the Simple Tense, it indicates that is happens frequently.
- Do not use the progressive present tense for general definitions. Instead, use the simple present tense.
INCORRECT: Kov radiation is light that particles ARE EMITTING when they ARE TRAVELLING faster than the effective speed of light.
CORRECT: Kov radiation is light that particles EMIT when they TRAVEL faster than the effective speed of light.
- In the GMAT, do not use progressive present tense to convey future events, as this sounds too colloquial.
INCORRECT: James IS MEETING Harvey for lunch tomorrow.
CORRECT: James WILL BE MEETING Harvey for lunch tomorrow.
- Verbs that express general states do not take the progressive tense. Instead, they take the simple present tense.
INCORRECT: This tablet IS SIGNIFYING the emperor's birth place.
CORRECT: This tablet SIGNIFIES the emperor's birth place.
Verb Tenses Need To Be Consistent
In any given sentence the verb tense needs to be kept consistent throughout, unless the meaning of the sentence dictates a change.
Examples:
She WALKED to school in the morning and RAN home in the afternoon. (Simple Past and Simple Past)
She WALKS to school in morning and RUNS home in the afternoon. (Simple Present and Simple Present)
She WILL WALK to school in the morning and RUN home in the afternoon. (Simple Future and Simple Future)
Notice that the tenses remain the same since there is no reason to change the tense of the verb.
Let's look at some instances where we are required to change the tense of the verb.
CORRECT: He IS thinner now because he SPENT the last six months on a diet.
IS is in Simple Present, whereas SPENT is in Simple Past tense. This is simple example. A more subtle example would be:
CORRECT: She WAS PLAYING with her friends when the babysitter ARRIVED.
In this example, WAS PLAYING is in Progressive Past to convey an event occurring in the background and ARRIVED is in Simple Past to convey an interrupting event that occurs in the foreground, which is relatively of more importance.
Another example would also be grammatically correct.
CORRECT: She PLAYED with her friends when the babysitter ARRIVED.
In this example, both verbs are in Simple Past tense, which conveys a different meaning from the previous example. The verb PLAYED conveys that she PLAYED with her friends AFTER the babysitter ARRIVED. The verbs PLAYED and ARRIVED are in Simple Past to show that both events are of equal importance.
Perfect Tenses
These tenses are used when the time sequences are more complex and the Simple and Progressive tenses are not useful.
Present Perfect Tense: Still in effect...
Use this tense when an action begun in the past and continues or whose result continues into the present or remains true.
Example: We HAVE LIVED in a hut for three days.
The sentence implies that we started living in a hut three days ago and still are.
We LIVED in a hut for three days.
This sentence implies that we started living a hut three days ago and that event just ended.
The past participle of a regular verb is the verb with -ed attached to the end. In case of Irregular verbs such as See or Go, the past participle will be Seen, Gone, etc.
Examples:
CORRECT: The country HAS ENFORCED strict immigration laws for thirty years. (This country enforced strict immigration laws thirty years ago, which are still in force today)
CORRECT: They HAVE KNOWN each other since 1546. (The two people got to know one another in 1546 and still know each other today)
Certain instance might show that the occurrence of an event has definitely stopped. In certain other instances the action may have stopped occurring, but the effect might still persist.
CORRECT: The child HAS DRAWN a square in the sand. (The child is no longer drawing)
CORRECT: The child DREW a square in sand, but the ocean ERASED it. (The Simple Past in both verbs indicates that the child drew the square which was erased by the ocean. However, the present status of the sand is not known)
CORRECT: The child DREW a square in the sand, but the ocean HAS ERASED it. (The child drew a square in sand which was erased by the ocean. From this sentence it is clear that there is no square in sand anymore. The Present Perfect indicates that the effect of erasing the square is still true.)
Verb Tenses Need To Be Consistent
In any given sentence the verb tense needs to be kept consistent throughout, unless the meaning of the sentence dictates a change.
Examples:
She WALKED to school in the morning and RAN home in the afternoon. (Simple Past and Simple Past)
She WALKS to school in morning and RUNS home in the afternoon. (Simple Present and Simple Present)
She WILL WALK to school in the morning and RUN home in the afternoon. (Simple Future and Simple Future)
Notice that the tenses remain the same since there is no reason to change the tense of the verb.
Let's look at some instances where we are required to change the tense of the verb.
CORRECT: He IS thinner now because he SPENT the last six months on a diet.
IS is in Simple Present, whereas SPENT is in Simple Past tense. This is simple example. A more subtle example would be:
CORRECT: She WAS PLAYING with her friends when the babysitter ARRIVED.
In this example, WAS PLAYING is in Progressive Past to convey an event occurring in the background and ARRIVED is in Simple Past to convey an interrupting event that occurs in the foreground, which is relatively of more importance.
Another example would also be grammatically correct.
CORRECT: She PLAYED with her friends when the babysitter ARRIVED.
In this example, both verbs are in Simple Past tense, which conveys a different meaning from the previous example. The verb PLAYED conveys that she PLAYED with her friends AFTER the babysitter ARRIVED. The verbs PLAYED and ARRIVED are in Simple Past to show that both events are of equal importance.
Perfect Tenses
These tenses are used when the time sequences are more complex and the Simple and Progressive tenses are not useful.
Present Perfect Tense: Still in effect...
Use this tense when an action begun in the past and continues or whose result continues into the present or remains true.
Example: We HAVE LIVED in a hut for three days.
The sentence implies that we started living in a hut three days ago and still are.
We LIVED in a hut for three days.
This sentence implies that we started living a hut three days ago and that event just ended.
- Present Perfect is the Past Participle along with the verb HAVE/HAS.
The past participle of a regular verb is the verb with -ed attached to the end. In case of Irregular verbs such as See or Go, the past participle will be Seen, Gone, etc.
Examples:
CORRECT: The country HAS ENFORCED strict immigration laws for thirty years. (This country enforced strict immigration laws thirty years ago, which are still in force today)
CORRECT: They HAVE KNOWN each other since 1546. (The two people got to know one another in 1546 and still know each other today)
Certain instance might show that the occurrence of an event has definitely stopped. In certain other instances the action may have stopped occurring, but the effect might still persist.
CORRECT: The child HAS DRAWN a square in the sand. (The child is no longer drawing)
CORRECT: The child DREW a square in sand, but the ocean ERASED it. (The Simple Past in both verbs indicates that the child drew the square which was erased by the ocean. However, the present status of the sand is not known)
CORRECT: The child DREW a square in the sand, but the ocean HAS ERASED it. (The child drew a square in sand which was erased by the ocean. From this sentence it is clear that there is no square in sand anymore. The Present Perfect indicates that the effect of erasing the square is still true.)
- Clearly, Present Prefect tense conveys continued action or effect of a completed action.
- When you use Since or Within, always use Present Perfect.
Example:
INCORRECT: Since 1986, no one BROKE that record.
CORRECT: Since 1986, no one HAS BROKEN that record.
- When talking about a completed time sequence, use Simple Past not Present Perfect.
INCORRECT: She HAS TRAVELED all over the world in 2006.
CORRECT: She TRAVELED all over the world in 2006.
- It is correct to say She HAS TRAVELED all over the world without any specific completed time reference.
Past Perfect Tense: The earlier action...
- When two events occurred at two difference times in the past, we make use of the Past Perfect tense.
Examples:
CORRECT: The file HAD STARTED by the time we ARRIVED at the theater.
CORRECT: The teacher THOUGHT that David HAD CHEATED on the test.
In both instances one of the verbs is in Simple Past and the other is in Past Perfect to indicate the time difference in the sequence of events. The film had started and then we arrived. David did something that made the teacher think he had cheated.
- However, this is not always the case. In general, we use this combination only when trying to distinguish between a sequence of events. The earlier events somehow influences the later event or has a bearing over it.
- In certain instances we can use Simple Past for both events.
Example: Joe DROVE into town and BOUGHT ice-cream.
Here, we know that Joe drove into town before he bought the ice-cream. When a sequence of verbs refers to the same subject, we do not require a Past Perfect tense.
- Also, clauses linked by and or but, they do not require a Past Perfect.
- Likewise, clauses with words like before and after do not require any distinguishing between the time sequences as the words themselves perform that function.
Example: Laura LOCKED the door before she LEFT the house.
- Also, later past references do not require a Present Perfect tense. This can be done by using a date or a time reference.
Example: By 1945, the US HAD BEEN at war for several years.
- Do not use Perfect Tenses when they are not necessary as the GMAT prefers to keep it "simple". (Sorry, that wasn't my idea of humor)
- Perfect Tenses are to be used only if they can conform to the rules stated in this section.
- If an event occurred and still extends or its effect still extends into the present, use Present Perfect tense.
- If more than even occurred in the past and you need to clarify the sequence of these events, use Past Perfect tenses, if not, use Simple Past tenses.
Tense Sequence
Consider the following example:
Scientist: The supercollider IS ready, it DID not cost much, and it WILL provide insights into the working of the universe.
When reported, it becomes:
Report: The scientist announced that the supercollider WAS ready, that it HAD not cost much, and that it WOULD provide new insights into the working of the universe.
Simple Present IS becomes Simple Past WAS
Simple Past DID becomes Past Perfect HAD
Simple Future WILL becomes Conditional Tense WOULD
- Avoid mixing Past Tense with Future Tense and Present Tense with Conditional Tense
- In such instances, the rule is: Present Tense + Future Tense and Past Tense + Conditional Tense.
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