Chapter 44: Confusing Shifts
CHAPTER 44CONNECT: Why are verb tense shifts confusing to readers? The Top Twenty, “Unnecessary shift in verb tense”; 44a
CREATE: Keep a log of the confusing verb tense shifts you find in your own writing or in texts you encounter, and note the context.
REFLECT: Write or record a reflection about the situations that cause you the most trouble with verb tenses and what you can do to make yourself more aware of avoiding confusing shifts.
A SHIFT IS AN ABRUPT CHANGE of some sort that results in inconsistency. Sometimes writers and speakers create deliberate shifts, as linguist Geneva Smitherman does in this passage from Word from the Mother: “In the larger realm of Hip Hop culture, there is cause for optimism as we witness Hip Hop younguns tryna git they political activist game togetha.”
Unintentional shifts, however, can be jolting and confusing to readers.