Confused over rules for changing verb tense within a sentence
I'm confused about the guideline to keep verb tenses consistent throughout a piece of writing. There are some examples of sentences I can think of where mixing past and present tense verbs is necessary, and I'm confused because I've read online guidance that states you should keep verb tenses consistent throughout whole essays and novels, let alone within single sentences.
Take this example:
What would you do if you woke up one day to discover you owed a lot of money to someone with whom you have no ties.
So the first two verbs are past tense but "have" is present tense. Is that incorrect? If you currently have no ties to the person, then surely it is correct to phrase it like this.
Top answer
Both 'have' and 'had' will work in that sentence. Both result in the same meaning. CJ
- Both 'have' and 'had' will work in that sentence.
- Both result in the same meaning.
- CJ
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Both 'have' and 'had' will work in that sentence. Both result in the same meaning.
CJ
0JJDouglasI'm confused about the guideline to keep verb tenses consistent throughout a piece of writing.
Consistent does not mean the same! It means to be rational and logical so it is grounded in a particular time frame, present, past or future throughout the entire article. It does not mean that every sentence has the same verb tense.
If you are writ
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