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Verb tense consistency

  • 13-12-2008 6:40pm
    #1
    peterone
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11 ✭


    I've read a lot about consistency in verb tense when writing and I'm a little confused.

    I'm currently writing a novel in the past tense and wonder if it is acceptable to mix basic past tense with past progressive, past perfect and past perfect progressive? And if so can I use any of these tense in the same paragraph, or even sentence, if need be?

    I appreciate any feedback you might have.

    Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    The Mad Hatter
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,718 ✭✭✭The Mad Hatter


    peterone wrote: »
    I've read a lot about consistency in verb tense when writing and I'm a little confused.

    I'm currently writing a novel in the past tense and wonder if it is acceptable to mix basic past tense with past progressive, past perfect and past perfect progressive? And if so can I use any of these tense in the same paragraph, or even sentence, if need be?

    I appreciate any feedback you might have.

    Thanks

    :confused: Just use whichever tense is correct...

    A lot of people make fairly basic mistakes when they're writing, because they're not aware of how tenses go together. (It's ludicrously complicated in English anyhow.) I'd recommend Bill Bryson's Troublesome Words as a good, easy-to-read guide.


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