In this lesson we're going to talk about tense and tense agreement.
Now this is important because a lot of us kind of have a mixed or a confused understanding of tense
agreement because in school a lot of times teachers tell us hey don't mix tenses within a sentence.
So the question arises Can you make sense isn't one sentence and the answer is yes.
Yes you can as long as it makes sense.
OK as long as the sentence you write or that you read has a meaning that makes sense.
It's perfectly OK to mix tenses.
For example let's look at the sentence I ate pizza for lunch.
Now a part of it in a.
So clearly we have past tense and future tense.
We'll eat but there's nothing wrong with that because the meaning I'm trying to convey is discussed
in the past and the future within the sentence.
There's nothing wrong with mixing mixing tense.
OK.
So the takeaway here is if you see mixed tenses with that sentence don't automatically think that it's
wrong.
OK it doesn't make sense.
There's nothing wrong with it.
However you know the College Board does test for tests.
The thing to look out for is if a time markers given if something in the sentence indicates time in
there that you want to pay attention to make sure that the tenth is correct.
For example when we see these two sentences I read yesterday and just as she sang a song he dances these
are incorrect because we see time Mochis yesterday's given it's in the past for not going to say will
eat the future.
Just as implies that things are occurring at the same time.
So I'm not going to say she sang a song he dances a mixing past with present their case a nice and simple.
We care about tent's if a time Mochis given we cannot make that tense disagree with the time to get.
But if the meaning makes sense there's no need to change it so that's a basic principle instrument.
But there's one more thing you need to learn.
And before I get there and briefly you can see here these are a list of the different tenses in English.
That way too much about these.
OK whether it's past present or future.
I mean you can tell when it's past present or future of course.
By that the main verb.
But in addition to that if to read simple progressive perfect and perfect progressive The answer is
No.
Not generally speaking.
Probably you want another progressive to know that that means something is occurring whereas a simple
tense means that it's just a simple fact and because sometimes for questions you know you have to understand
the meaning to know what that meaning is logical or not.
But generally speaking not important what is important though is the distinction between these three
tenses.
The simple past the past perfect and the present perfect.
Ok these three matter.
And that's because a college board tests you on the meaning of these three tenses.
That's the only reason why it matters because if you think about it like if I ask you what is the difference
when I studied.
I had said and I have studied.
Could you offer a concise explanation for when you should use either of these three.
Or any of these three.
It's kind of hard to do right because we use them interchangeably a lot and our brain automatically
decide when to use the right one.
So let me quickly explain in a quick and dirty explanation of when to use which.
So first of all let's start with I studied.
OK as I mentioned the simple test is just a simple fact.
So when you say I studied you just saying hey this is a fact that occurred in the past.
The fact may have occurred a second ago or a billion years ago doesn't matter.
It's just something that's true in the past.
So I studied French.
Perhaps I did it.
I studied French when I was 10.
Perhaps I studied French last year.
You don't know.
It's just a fact it's true in the past.
Now when I say I had studied this is the present tense because of course have is present tense.
I have a car that I had a car right.
It's the present tense but it sounds like the past because the perfect tense means that something occurred
over a period of time.
So when I say I have studied I have studied French years.
I'm telling you that I did that action over over the course of 10 years from the past until now.
And that's why it's the present tense until now.
From the perspective of today I'm telling that something occurred over a period of time until now that's
the present perfect.
Hence logically speaking the past perfect is going to be something that occurred over a period of time
over a period of time from the past until some other point in the past right.
I had studied French for 10 hours when my mom called me for dinner so I stopped studying.
Right so it occurred for a period of a point in time in the past until another point in time in the
past yes.
Try to remember that an important thing to know.
So when the sentence given to you shows that duration of time to the sentence says like since 1932 or
for ten years right it's giving you that ration of time.
Then you must have the perfect tense.
You must have the perfect tense.
If it gives you direction.
However just because it says the perfect tense just because it says I have studied French It doesn't
mean it's wrong just because there isn't a specific duration of time explained or given it's just implied
in that case where it's just implied that oh yeah you mean that it happened over a period of time.
So let me recap.
We only care about the difference between the perfect and the simple past tense when a marker of time
is given that indicates that something happened over a period of time.
Otherwise you can freely use your studied had studied or have studied interchangeably between between
them.
You know you can use them interchangeably because it just has a slightly different nuance in meaning.
Ok so now that you know that let's go look at some examples.
Here's a first example and try to remember the rules you know so far.
Such as how to join clauses and you know clause fragments etc. but also focus really on tend theremin
if you can like it's a pause and when you're ready resue
OK so we start with when in 1833 there is a time marker.
It's the past when in 1833 and Linden carpenter designed the first pre-fabricated house.
Sounds like a clause carpenter designed at a conjunction when at the beginning.
So I should expect another clause after this comma.
So one in 1833 a landscaper designed the first pre-fabricated house making certain that a single person
can carry any of the Piqua passed from which it was assembled.
Again there's a bunch of clauses here and there were other clauses.
But you see that after the comma I have that clause that a person can carry.
There's one clause but to that clause I have a which clause from which it was assembled subject verb.
So I expected to have a dependent clause after the win but I never actually had that.
Like what happened when this occurred.
Whereas a clause that tells me what happened when the captain designed the first prefabricate house.
I never get a main clause for that clause for that and said I just had to add that and which clauses.
So right away I can tell that is incorrect is incorrect because of Rule 1 be I guess I'm expecting clauses
to be joined.
But heck there never was another clause and same with the second one B.
There no other clause that I expect based on the when conjunction.
So A and B are are dead to me.
OK.
I'm not a CD any.
Now my choice is super simple because I already saw that it was 1833.
So which of these is the past tense makes isn't past right you make.
And what made has isn't passed if it had made.
Maybe it would be an option but maybe pass makes it simple present has made is present perfect.
So the only possible choice here right.
DS The only possible choice that contains a past tense OK.
Another example here.
Press pause when you think you've found the error press Resume.
All right surely one of the most far reaching changes the 19th century will be the change from working
at home to working in the factory.
OK.
Right away if you're paying attention you'll see the time marker here.
19th century.
So since that's the past of course will be which is the future tense is incorrect.
OK.
Nice and simple.
Now one of my students once said to me well wait a second how do you know that the person speaking isn't
speaking in the 19th century couldn't this potentially be or 18th that.
Maybe this is going to be you know the person talking about the future.
So perfectly logical makes sense.
But every one of these sentences should be considered as if they're being spoken today.
So this should be the past tense.
All right.
Last example press pause when you think you found the answer please press Resume
OK.
Despite its cultural importance the Daily Gazette lost 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920 and
by 1955 it was losing as much as $200000 a year.
So there's a lot going on in this sentence right.
Clearly we see some time markers here.
Right we see that since 1920 and by 1955 and the only option is then are going to be B or C because
these are the verbs because tent's only occurs due to a verb.
If it's not a verb it's not a tense.
So Lost is simple past was losing is past progressive.
They're both past tense and it is talking about the past so maybe it's OK maybe there's no other.
However if you're paying attention you'll remember that I said the perfect tense is when something occurs
over a period of time so what's occurring over a period of time here yeah the loss of subscriber's occurred
over a period of time right.
So I should be using the perfect tense describe the loss loss of subscribers not loss of money but you'll
notice that the loss of subscribers occurred from 1920 to 1955.
So it's the past of the past.
So lost should be had lost they had lost 7 percent or it had lost 70 percent of subscribers since 1920.
And my 1955 was losing as much as $3000 a year.
And this is OK because I'm just saying at that point in time which is the past Hey this action was occurring.
They were losing this much money.
So that's fine.
But because there was a duration B has to be perfect sense.
Here's another example.
According to box a leading Greenland expert tundra fires in 2012 from the far away as North America
produced great amounts of soot some of which drifted over Greenland and giant plumes of smoke and then
fell those particles onto the ice sheet looking at the answer choices you can see that they are all
different tenses.
Fell is simple past tense foal's is simple present.
See will for the simple future.
Andy is had fall and is past perfect so right away I see that it was under-fives in 2012 right.
200 was revised in 2012 produced great amounts of soot some of which drifted so definitely past tense
in 2012.
Now how do I know 2012.
The past not the present maybe it was written in 2012 will of course as it could be.
But it told me that 2012 here was past tense 2012 produced and drifted so it's not going to be present
or future tense.
But India both past tense right.
So is it going to be all.
Well this answer he fell is joined by end.
So what's a joining.
Some of which drifted and fell so since and is joining these two.
I'm going to want to maintain the same tense as well there.
So the simplest answer is a just.
It should be.
It should just be felle.