Does verb tense give you tension? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) In this blog entry, we will quickly overview verb tenses and note some stylistic rules of thumb.
Past—present—future
Past, present, and future tense, also called primary tenses, have the advantages of being strong and simple.
I learned German from my aunt. I speak it well enough to get by. I will speak it as much as I can when I visit Germany next year.
Past perfect—present perfect—future perfect
The perfect tenses describe action completed before another point in time.
When I began studying German in college, I already had learned a smattering from my aunt, a native German speaker. Now I have grasped the language enough to carry on a decent conversation. When I visit Germany next year, I hope my proficiency will have developed to the point of not needing to consult my German-English dictionary at all.
When required for precision, perfect tenses are beautiful things. Past perfect is especially useful, since stories are usually written in the past tense, and past perfect allows the writer to clearly distinguish between events happening at the time of the story and events preceding it. However, past perfect is easy to misuse (see my post on that issue here)—especially if a story is written in the present tense, when some authors confusedly use past perfect as though the story is written in the past tense (example: I open the freezer, which I had defrosted yesterday).
Often, the context indicates the timing of an action, rendering perfect tenses unnecessary. For example: Now I grasp German well enough to carry on a conversation. When I visit Germany next year, I hope I will be proficient enough to not need my German-English dictionary at all.
Sometimes, present perfect is desirable because it alters the writing’s tone. Compare I wrote a poem to I have written a poem.
Past progressive—present progressive—future progressive
I was writing. I am writing. I will be writing.
The progressive tenses are handy to indicate ongoing action, but it’s always worth double-checking that they are necessary. For example, I could write I was drafting my novel during the coronavirus pandemic to emphasize that the action happened alongside the pandemic. But I drafted my novel during the coronavirus pandemic would likely be stronger and would only need to be avoided if it wrongly implied that the novel was also completed during the pandemic.
Past perfect progressive—present perfect progressive—future perfect progressive
Feel like describing an action that was ongoing before it was completed? May I ask why?
The crowd had been cheering. The crowd has been standing silently. The crowd will have been standing on 34th Street for three hours by the time the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ends.
OK, I can see that these tenses have their uses. But beware the weedy prose that results when the perfect progressives are deployed without skill. (And seriously—why not The crowd is standing silently?)
Style suggestions
Lean on the primary tenses (past, present, future).
Learn how to correctly use past perfect.
Present and future perfect and the progressive tenses tend to be more useful for tone than for technical reasons, so discipline yourself to not overuse them.
Avoid the perfect progressive tenses unless they are necessary.
Banner photo by Raspopova Marina on Unsplash