Page 36 - Grammar for Great Writing B

Common Error 2.4 Are verb tenses consistent?

was
Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. He became president in January 2009, and he is
president for eight years.

RemembeR: Do not change from one tense to another without a good reason.

ACTIVITY 7 Common Error 2.4

There is one incorrect verb form in each sentence or group of sentences. Underline and correct the
incorrect verb form.
1. Joe Rantz, a 1936 Olympic gold medal winner, had a difficult childhood. His mother died when he was
three. When Joe was 15, his father, stepmother, and their children move away and left him behind.

2. A recent survey of students pursuing degrees online showed that half of the students lived within
50 miles of the college. Students also said that cost is a major consideration when they chose online
programs.

3. In 1776, the United States became a country with only 13 states. In 1791, Vermont joined the young
country as the fourteenth state. A few months later, Kentucky enters the United States.

4. Schuyler Skaats Wheeler invented the fan in 1882. Philip Diehl, however, has the idea to attach
a fan blade to a motor. He hung it from the ceiling and created the first ceiling fan.

5. In 1946, the Center for Disease Control concentrated on controlling the spread of diseases, but
its mission changed later. For example, it works with the Food and Drug Administration to address
food safety and nutrition issues after the Food Safety Modernization Act passed in 2011.

6. During the 1840s, pioneers in the United States traveled west in order to find work. They took all
their possessions with them, and many just abandon their homes.

7. Jaguars were once plentiful in the United States, but an Arizona hunter shoot and killed the last
female jaguar in 1963.

8. Health care has changed significantly over the years. In the past, patients remain in the hospital
much longer, hospitals offered very little outpatient surgery, and doctors often gave patients
minimal information about their condition.

26 Unit 2 Writing about the Past

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
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