Verb Tense, Mood, and Voice PSAT-SAT Day 2 recap

Verb tense – Verb tense needs to stay consistent. Oftentimes, this means looking before and after the marked sentence to ensure consistency. – Processes, routines, and universal truths are written in present tense. – Literature is timeless and written in literary present. – Interrupted actions will move from past progressive to past tense. – Reported speech is in past tense

Conditional statements – Likely to occur – If x + present tense verb, y will occur – If the bases are loaded, the pitcher will often throw a fastball. – Y will occur if + present tense verb – An alarm will sound if you open that door.

Conditional statements – Hypothetical – If x + past tense verb, y would occur – If the bases were loaded now, the infield players would shift in a bit. – Y would occur if x+ past tense verb – An alarm would sound if you opened that door.

Mood – Indicative mood tells a fact or opinion – Imperative mood gives a command – Subjunctive mood tells a dream, wish, or desire

Subjunctive mood The subjunctive mood is used to explore conditions that are contrary to fact: If I were President, I wouldn’t put up with it. It’s used to explore hypotheticals: If I were to embroider a sampler, it would say, “Simple is truly best in Frytown.” It’s used to express wishes: I wish I were there to climb the mountains with you. It’s used to express commands or demands: She demanded that he leave the hospital premises … It’s used to express suggestions: I suggest that he implement a budget cut in March. It’s used to make statements of necessity: It’s essential that they be heard …

Voice – Active voice, subject performing action comes before the verb – Inactive voice, subject performing action comes after the verb or not at all – Active voice is preferable almost always – 3 exceptions for using passive voice – Subject is inanimate – Subject is unknown – To place emphasis on the recipient of an action