Tense

Tense errors occur when a sentence creates an illogical time line.

Your standard of decision-making when it comes to time linebased questions is that the verbs should connote a
logical time-line.
Understand the different tenses, particularly the Past Perfect.
Incorrect:

After meeting with Bill, John realized that he forgot to give him the proposal. \

Correct:

After meeting with Bill, John realized that he had forgotten to give him the proposal.

Understand subjunctive mood and passive voice (verb form, not verb tense).
Incorrect:

In a school meeting, the principal demanded that students are quiet in class or face the
consequences.

Correct:

In a school meeting, the principal demanded that students be quiet in class or face the
consequences.

Now decide which of the following sentences are correct from a tense perspective:
My grandfather was a carpenter until the day he died.
My grandfather had been a carpenter for 55 years by the time he died.
Having been a carpenter his entire adult life, my grandfather died in a house he had built himself.
In the triathlon, I swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and then ran a full marathon.
In the triathlon, I had already swum 2.4 miles and biked 112 miles before I even started the full marathon.
They all are.
Many test-takers find themselves searching for the perfect verb tense and accordingly eliminating valid answer
choices.
If a time line is logical, youve done your job with verb tenses, and youll need to find another Decision Point.