Transcript Shifts in Verb Voice, Tense, Person, and Number

Shifts in Verb Voice, Tense,
Person, and Number
created by:
Eric Zellers
Ilona Carlon-Plitt
Ilona
Eric!
Unnecessary Shifts in Sentences =
Awkward Changes in Subject and Verb Forms
Shifts are BAD!
Shift in Subject Notes
• Within a sentence a shift is a change from
one subject to another or from one verb to
another. Often shifts are acceptable because
they are necessary to express the meaning
the writer intends.
• The smoothness of a sentence is affected by
an unnecessary or awkward shift.
Examples of Shift in Subject
• Awkward:
• A student should choose books from the reading
list so that you can be sure they are acceptable to
the teacher.
• (The unnecessary shift from student to you is
awkward is confusing)
Examples of Shift in Subject
(Cont…)
• Acceptable:
• A student should choose books from the
reading list so that he or she can be sure
they are acceptable to the teacher.
Shift in Voice Notes
• When the subject of a verb is acting, the
verb is in the active voice. When the
subject of a verb is acted upon, the verb is
in the passive voice.
• Avoid unnecessary shifts in voice within
one sentence.
Examples of Active and Passive
Voice
• Active Voice-Jane won both events.
(subject acting)
• Passive Voice-Both events were won by
Jane. (Subject acted upon)
Examples of Shift in Verb Voice
• Unnecessary shift-Volunteers made (active
verb) the dangerous journey after dark, but
no wolves were encountered (passive verb).
Examples of Shift in Verb Voice
(Cont…)
• Shift avoided-Volunteers made (active verb)
the dangerous journey after dark but
encountered (active verb) no wolves.
Shifts in Tense of Verbs
• Changing without reason from one tense to
another within a sentence creates an
awkward and confusing effect. Stick to the
tense that you start with unless there is an
excellent reason for changing.
Examples of Shift in Tense
• Unnecessary shift-At this point the
President reads (present tense) a prepared
statement but refused (past tense) to answer
any questions.
Examples of Shift in Tense
(Cont…)
• Shift avoided-At this point the President
read (past tense) a prepared statement but
refused (past tense) to answer any
questions.
• Shift avoided-At this point the President
reads (present tense) a prepared statement
but refuses (present tense) to answer any
questions.
Shifts in Tense of Verbs (Cont…)
• In correcting unnecessary shifts in subject
and verb, you will often find the best
method is to omit the second subject. This
can usually be done by using a second verb
in the same voice as the first and making the
verb compound.
Examples of Shifts in Tense
(Cont…)
• Unnecessary shift-A good driver has
complete control of the car at all times,
and allowance is made for the
carelessness of other drivers.
Examples of Shift in Tense
(Cont…)
• Shift avoided-A good driver has complete
control of the car at all times and makes
allowances for the carelessness of other
drivers. (The use of the compound active
voice for both verbs corrects the awkward
shift.)
Shifts in Person
• The term “person” identifies whether the
speaker of a sentence is the person speaking
(the first person), the person spoken to (the
second person), or the person spoken about
(the third person).
Rules of Shifts in Person
• A shift from one person form to another obscures
a subject’s identity, changing the reference by
which the subject is known. Shifts in person often
occur when a writer switches from the second
person (you) to the first person (I, we) or to the
third person (he, she, it).
• You can avoid this difficulty by recognizing the
first-, second-, third-person orientation of your
sentences and by maintaining consistency.
Examples of Shift in Person
• Inconsistent-A person who is a
nonsmoker can develop lung troubles
when you live with smokers.
Examples of Shift in Person
(Cont…)
• Third person-A person who is a nonsmoker
can develop lung troubles when he or she
lives with smokers.
• Second person-If you are a nonsmoker, you
can develop lung troubles if you live with
smokers.
Shifts in Number
• Pronouns should agree in number with the
nouns they replace. You can avoid shifting
number and confusing readers by
maintaining a clear plural or singular sense
in all significant words throughout a
sentence.
Examples of Shift in Number
• Inconsistent:
• They had the best time of their life.
Examples of Shift in Number
(cont…)
• Revised:
• They had the best time of their lives.
Any significant words related to a
subject or object should match its
number.
• Inconsistent:
• The seven candidates for the judgeship have
a liberal record.
Cont….
• Revised:
• The seven candidates for the judgeship have
liberal records.
The End
Show’s over. Now go away.