Exercise 1

Complete the following sentences by selecting the correct form of the verb in simple present, simple past, or simple future tenses. Write the corrected sentence on your own sheet of paper.

1. The Dust Bowl (is, was, will be) a name given to a period of very destructive dust storms that occurred in the United States during the 1930s.
2. Historians today (consider, considered, will consider) The Dust Bowl to be one of the worst weather events in American history.
3. The Dust Bowl mostly (affects, affected, will affect) the states of Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
4. Dust storms (continue, continued, will continue) to occur in these dry regions, but not to the devastating degree of the 1930s.
5. The dust storms during The Dust Bowl (cause, caused, will cause) irreparable damage to farms and the environment for a period of several years.
6. When early settlers (move, moved, will move) into this area, they (remove, removed, will remove) the natural prairie grasses in order to plant crops and graze their cattle.
7. They did not (realize, realized, will realize) that the grasses kept the soil in place.
8. There (is, was, will be) also a severe drought that (affects, affected, will affect) the region.
9. The worst dust storm (happens, happened, will happen) on April 14, 1935, a day called Black Sunday.
10. The Dust Bowl era finally came to end in 1939 when the rains (arrive, arrived, will arrive).
11. Dust storms (continue, continued, will continue) to affect the region, but hopefully they will not be as destructive as the storms of the 1930s.

Table: Irregular Verbs

Exercise 2

Complete the following sentences by selecting the correct form of the irregular verb in simple present, simple past, or simple future tense. Copy the corrected sentence onto your own sheet of paper.

1. Marina finally (forgived, forgave, will forgive) her sister for snooping around her room.
2. The house (shook, shaked, shakes) as the airplane rumbled overhead.
3. I (buyed, bought, buy) several items of clothing at the thrift store on Wednesday.
4. She (put, putted, puts) the lotion in her shopping basket and proceeded to the checkout line.
5. The goose (layed, laid, lay) several golden eggs last night.
6. Mr. Batista (teached, taught, taughted) the class how to use correct punctuation.
7. I (drink, drank, will drink) several glasses of sparkling cider instead of champagne on New Year’s Eve next year.
8. Although Hector (growed, grew, grows) three inches in one year, we still called him “Little Hector.”
9. Yesterday our tour guide (lead, led, will lead) us through the maze of people in Times Square.
10. The rock band (burst, bursted, bursts) onto the music scene with their catchy songs.

Exercise 3

Edit the following paragraph by correcting the inconsistent verb tense. Copy the corrected paragraph onto your own sheet of paper.

In the Middle Ages, most people lived in villages and work as agricultural laborers, or peasants. Every village has a “lord,” and the peasants worked on his land. Much of what they produce go to the lord and his family. What little food was leftover goes to support the peasants’ families. In return for their labor, the lord offers them protection. A peasant’s day usually began before sunrise and involves long hours of backbreaking work, which includes plowing the land, planting seeds, and cutting crops for harvesting. The working life of a peasant in the Middle Ages is usually demanding and exhausting.

Key Takeaways

• Verb tense helps you express when an event takes place.
• Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from present to past tense.
• Irregular verbs do not follow regular, predictable patterns when shifting from present to past tense.
• Using consistent verb tense is a key element to effective writing.

Exercise 4

Each sentence contains an error in subject-verb agreement, irregular verb form, or consistent verb tense. Identify the type of error. Then, on your own sheet of paper, rewrite the sentence correctly.

a. Maria and Ty meets me at the community center for cooking classes on Tuesdays.

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b. John’s ability to laugh at almost anything amaze me.

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c. Samantha and I were walking near the lake when the large, colorful bird appears.

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d. I builded my own telescope using materials I bought at the hardware store.

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e. My mother freezed the remaining tomatoes from her garden so that she could use them during the winter.

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f. Bernard asked the stranger sitting next to him for the time, and she says it was past midnight.

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g. My mother and brother wears glasses, but my father and sister do not.

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h. We held our noses as the skunk runs away.

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i. Neither Soren nor Andrew are excited about the early morning swim meet.

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j. My hands hurted at the thought of transcribing all those notes.

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k. The police questioned the suspect for hours but she gives them no useful information.

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l. Terry takes short weekend trips because her job as a therapist was very emotionally draining.

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m. She criticize delicately, making sure not to hurt anyone’s feelings.

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n. Davis winded the old clock and set it atop his nightstand.

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o. Cherie losed four poker hands in a row before realizing that she was playing against professionals.

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p. Janis and Joan describes their trip to the Amazon in vivid detail.

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q. You should decides for yourself whether or not to reduce the amount of processed foods in your diet.

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r. The oil rig exploded and spills millions of gallons of oil into the ocean.

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s. The handsome vampire appeared out of nowhere and smiles at the smitten woman.

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t. The batter swinged at the ball several times but never hit it.

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