GoldenQN  +  567000 Wed, 17 Sep 08 05:29 AM I have a problem with often switching tenses in paragraphs. Is this allow? Here's an example of a passage below. Would this passage be considered incorrect? "Founded on the early years of his life, he realized the possibilities and opportunities are available for anybody to rise from poverty. This shaped his perspective of the lower class and developed into hostility against charity and the socialist movement.  The lower class in the story is subjected to the authority of the privileged few and kept impoverished and disempowered with the use of fear tactics. The government ignores the suffering of the poor and forces them to survive on their own in the capitalist economy. Without much hope for the poor, members in the Trueba family became sympathetic toward them and devoted their lives to supporting them." GoldenQN Joined on Tue, Sep 16 2008 New Member 20 Tenses, Paragraphs

	Mister Micawber  +  567024 Wed, 17 Sep 08 06:42 AM .  You should not switch tenses in the narrative like this. . Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,773 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	Mister Micawber  +  567066 Wed, 17 Sep 08 09:36 AM . Why did you underscore 'the authority'? . Mister Micawber

	Eimai_Anglos  +  567160 Wed, 17 Sep 08 01:52 PM I guess that someone with a better knowledge of English grammar could pick fault with it but, as a native English speaker, I can't see anything wrong with it. It reads OK and it makes sense. The tenses look right to me. I think it's possible to be too pedantic! Eimai_Anglos Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Regular Member 509 Martin - native English speaker and technical author. Grammar, Tenses, English Grammar

	Mister Micawber  +  567167 Wed, 17 Sep 08 02:05 PM . The same tense is not demanded throughout a narrative, but there must be good internal reasons for the shift; here there does not seem to be: This shaped his perspective...and developed into hostility.... The lower class...is subjected to...and kept impoverished and disempowered.... The government ignores the suffering...and forces them.... [M]embers in the Trueba family became sympathetic...and devoted.... The first and last sentences (the effects on the protagonist) are, if anything, consequent upon the past actions in the central pair of sentences. Alternatively, if the last three sentences only speak of the story itself, my assessment holds for the last sentence.  As another alternative, the first and last sentences may relate to the author while the inner pair to the story itself; the tenses then may be appropriate. All in all, when tenses are switched, confusion reigns. . Mister Micawber Tenses