Tense Agreement

No, I'm not talking about international peace accords, I'm talking sentences. Prose. Fiction or nonfiction.

I don't know about you, but when I'm reading a story and the author changes tenses in the middle of a sentence, I find it confusing. Does he or she mean the action is happening in the present tense, the past tense, or the future tense? Here are some examples I made up to illustrate what I mean.

• Jason thought if he went sailing in the Argo, he may find the Golden Fleece. Okay, is Jason thinking about something he has done, something he's doing now, or something he wants to do in the future? This sentence is inherently confusing, because the first clause is in the past tense, and the second clause is in the present. To avoid ambiguity and confusion, either change the sentence to Jason thinks if he goes sailing in the Argo, he may find the Golden Fleece or Jason thought if he went sailing in the Argo, he might find the Golden Fleece.


• Miss Eliza Bennett danced with Mr. Darcy, and later bid him goodnight.
  What's wrong with this sentence? Well, bid is present tense. The past tense is the rapidly disappearing bade (pronounced bad). The sentence should read: Miss Eliza Bennett danced with Mr. Darcy, and later bade him goodnight.


• If I would have known that in advance, I may not have made that mistake. This sentence has two glaring errors: the may in the second clause, and the If I would have known in the first clause. This is an error I see and hear more all the time. The use of the conditional conjunction If precludes the necessity of writing would have. It should say If I had known that in advance, I might not have made that mistake.

Check in your own writing and see how many sentences you find that don't agree with themselves. It's an easy thing to fix, and your readers will thank you!