Tense tells the reader when something happens, and subject–verb agreement makes sure the verb matches its subject. Getting both right keeps your writing clear and error-free.
The three main tenses
- Past: it already happened. Aisha walked to school.
- Present: it happens now or regularly. Aisha walks to school.
- Future: it will happen. Aisha will walk to school.
Choose one main tense for a piece of writing and stay with it. Only change tense for a clear reason, such as moving from a story (past) to a comment (present).
Subject–verb agreement
A singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb.
| Subject | Verb |
|---|---|
| The boy | runs |
| The boys | run |
| She | was |
| They | were |
Tricky agreement cases
- Words between the subject and verb do not change agreement: The box of dates is heavy. (subject = box)
- Each, everyone and nobody are singular: Everyone is ready.
- Two subjects joined by and are usually plural: Omar and Bilal are friends.
- Collective nouns such as team, class and family are usually treated as singular in British English: The team is ready.
Tense also has helpful forms beyond the three basics. The past continuous shows an action in progress in the past: Aisha was reading when the bell rang. The past perfect shows one past action happening before another: The guests had left before we arrived. Using these correctly makes your narrative writing far clearer about the order of events.
Quick check: find the true subject, decide if it is singular or plural, then match the verb.