When Editing Your Essay For Verb Tense, It Is Important

The consistency of verb tenses is one of the essential tasks that an author or editor faces when checking an essay. If it is written in free form, then the author’s main task is to follow the rules of grammar and maintain the general style. But if the goal is to maintain a certain format, for example, APA or MLA, then more attention should be paid to verbs.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH

How To Avoid Mistakes Using Verb Tenses

English, like many other languages, has many dialects. Add a lot of tenses here, and you get a lot of reasons for the confusion that regularly arises in the essays of both college and university students. You should not be afraid of this: the more texts a person reads and writes, the more perfect and natural his own style of presentation and the use of tenses of the verb will be. In the meantime, if you have not reached mastery, the most important essays that affect your future academic career are best to pass to the essay editor. Professional editors will perfect an essay in all respects:

edit the text, correcting logical, structural, and stylistic flaws
proofread it, paying attention to all kinds of errors, including the misuse of verb tenses
point out these mistakes so that they can be taken into account and avoided in the future

How To Edit Verb Tenses In Text

When the text is written, the author perceives it visually. To see it from the side during editing, you need to look at it through other people’s eyes. If this is not possible for various reasons, it is necessary to listen to it in order to turn on a different organ of perception than vision. This can be done in several ways:

If the word editor you’re working in has a sound playback feature, turn it on and listen to the text. Incorrect use of verbs will definitely attract your attention
Ask a friend or family member to read the essay aloud. Then the error with the use of the tense of the verb will be noticed not only by you but also by the one who will read it
If both options are also missing, just read the text aloud yourself. This will also work, although it will have a slightly less pronounced effect

What To Look For When Reading The Text

The story should unfold smoothly. There should be no sudden jumps in time that create a sense of disharmony
Unexpected transitions in time break the logic and confuse the reader. Therefore, if you notice such a transition, evaluate whether it can be replaced with the tense of the verb that was used in previous sentences
If you write essays often, create your own tables where you will enter the most difficult cases. Refer to them as you edit your essay

This painstaking work requires a lot of time. And even after spending huge efforts, the author may not be sure that he has corrected absolutely all the shortcomings. To avoid such a situation, contact EssayEdge editorial service. The platform specialists are native speakers who know all the nuances of the MLA and APA formats and will be able to perfectly edit even the most challenging essays.