Verb tense tells the reader when something is happening. Past tense verbs say the action already happened. Present tense verbs say the action is occurring right now. Future tense tells about things that will happen after right now.
When we write, we need to be careful with verb tense. We want people to understand what we are saying, so we must use verb tense in a way that makes sense for the reader.
Look at this piece of writing:
Bob has a dog. The dog is adopted from an animal shelter. The dog was brown with white spots. Bob loved his dog. The dog followed Bob to school. Bob buys a leash. He will tie up the dog to keep it safe. Now the dog will not ran away.
Do you see the problem with this paragraph? Can you find the places where verb tense is inconsistent?
The first two sentences are present tense. The third, fourth, and fifth sentences are past tense. The sixth sentence is present tense. The last two sentences are future tense. This is an example of writing where verb tense is not consistent.
So how can we fix it? We need to decide whether to tell the story all in present tense – right now – or whether to tell the story partly in the past and partly in the present.
Here is how it looks with everything in present tense:
Bob has a dog. The dog is adopted from an animal shelter. The dog is brown with white spots. Bob loves his dog. The dog follows Bob to school. Bob buys a leash. He ties up the dog to keep it safe. Now the dog does not run away.
You can also write this another way. Start in the present tense and put those sentences together. Then tell the story of what happened in the past.
Bob has a dog that he adopted from the animal shelter. The dog is brown with white spots. Bob loves his dog. One day, the dog followed Bob to school. Bob bought a leash. He tied up the dog to keep it safe. Then it could not run away.
Both of these examples have consistent verb tense. The reader can follow the action and understand what is happening.
When you write, decide when your action is happening and use the proper tense. Keep your tense consistent. Avoid jumping back and forth between tenses.