Identifying incorrect verb tense

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cbenk121
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Topic: Identifying incorrect verb tense
PostThu Nov 05, 2009 8:44 pm
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Hi all,

I'm trying to keep all the verb tenses straight, but some of them seem to overlap in usage. For example,

"They were stretching when the arena alarms went off."
"They had been stretching when the arena alarms went off."

So I've been working on a logical system to give some guidance. These are not hard and fast rules, but seem to be true so far in my practice. Some tenses are missing, and that's because of my earlier thoughts that some to be very close in definition.

o To express one event in the present and one event in the past, use simple present and simple past.
o To express one event in the past and one event earlier in the past, use simple past and past perfect.
o To express one event in present and one event in future, use simple present and simple future.
o To express two events in the past at the same time, use simple past for both.
o To express two events at the same time in the present, use simple present for both.
o To express a repeating event in future, use progressive future.
o To express an action or event that repeated in the past, use progressive past.
o To express an action that started in the past, and continues into the present, and no information is given on if it will continue into the future, use present perfect.
o To express an action that started in the past, continues into the present, and may continue into the future, use present perfect progressive.
o To express an event that will occur in the future before another event, use future perfect.

Any feedback on this, or in general keeping the 12 tenses straight, is appreciated Smile.
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capnx
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PostThu Nov 05, 2009 11:39 pm
I try to think of it in terms of a time line.

an event that is true at present - present tense

an event that is true in the past but no longer true present - past tense

an event that is true in the past and also true in the present - present perfect tense

an event that happened prior to a past event with a clear time reference point - use past perfect
(look for key phrases/words such as "prior to" and "before" that indicates an action took place before another action)

those 4 are the most frequent tense tested on GMAT
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cbenk121
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PostSat Nov 07, 2009 8:55 am
capnx wrote:
I try to think of it in terms of a time line.

an event that is true at present - present tense

an event that is true in the past but no longer true present - past tense

an event that is true in the past and also true in the present - present perfect tense

an event that happened prior to a past event with a clear time reference point - use past perfect
(look for key phrases/words such as "prior to" and "before" that indicates an action took place before another action)

those 4 are the most frequent tense tested on GMAT
Nice and simple, thanks! While the other tenses may appear, it's probably better at this point (t minus 1.5 week) to have four tenses DOWN than twelve tenses semi-down.
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