Past tenses are some of the most widely used tenses in English writing. And as the name suggests, they are used to refer to actions or states that happened in the past. Depending on the past tense verb you are using, you can also use past tenses to indicate that the state or action ended in the past or it continues to happen presently.
Unfortunately, correct and effective use of past tenses in writing tasks can be challenging for students, teachers, journalists, and even editors, especially those that are non-English native speakers. Incorrectly used past tenses make it hard for readers to understand your texts and even determine exactly when the action was completed.
Luckily, an online past tense sentence checker like ours can help you identify and fix issues past tense-related mistakes, as well as other grammar-related errors. Our tool leverages AI, ML, and English grammar-based rules to analyze your work, and with a single click of a mouse, you can identify all errors in your texts, as well as implement the most-appropriate suggestion.
Different Types of Past Tenses
Whether you are a student, teacher, or a professional writer, there are different types of past tenses that you’ll come across when writing. They include:
Simple past tense
These types of tense are used to indicate that an event or action started and ended in the past. As such, it has not related to anything happening in the present time.
For example: “My volleyball team won a game last month.”
Past continuous tense
As the name suggests, past continuous tenses are used to describe actions or events that began in the past and continue to happen through the sentences’ time frame. Generally, it comprises a past tense followed by a verb that ends with “-ing”.
For example: “Jeff was eating pizza with his friends yesterday.”
Past perfect tense
Used to refer to past actions or events that preceded another past event.
For example: “When I went home everyone had left for the movie.”
Past perfect continuous tense
This type of tense is used to discuss an event or action that started in the past and will continue to happen up until some point in the past.
For example: “The kid had been crying for 10 minutes when the mum arrived.”
Typical Past Tense Errors
The best way to identify and possibly avoid past tense errors is to put yourself in the hurricane’s eye. In this section, we have compiled some of the common past tense errors and how you can avoid them.
Mixing past tenses with present tenses
This mistake is pretty straightforward. It comes by mixing past and present tenses in a sentence.
For example:
Wrong: I just went to the movie and come back home.
Correct: I just went to the movie and came back home.
Extrapolating long and complex sentences using tenses
When describing complex past actions or events, many people tend to extrapolate simple past tense further and mix different types of past tense.
Subject/Verb disagreement. When it comes to writing a sentence, the subject has to agree in number with the verb.
For example:
The boy is singing.
The girls are playing.
Mistakes when using words with singular tones
Naturally, words like ‘nobody’ and ‘everyone’ have a singular tone, meaning they must follow singular tenses in verbs.
For example:
Everyone needs a drink.
Nobody needs unnecessary criticism.
Using the past form with the word ‘did’
When using the word ‘did’ in a sentence, it needs to be in present tense form. On the other hand, using the word ‘did’ together with past tense is a grave error in English writing.
For example:
Incorrect: John did not went to the hospital yesterday.
Correct: John did not go to the hospital yesterday.
Simple past with adverbs of time mistake
Past perfect or present perfect tenses are never used with time-related adverbs of the past, but with simple past tenses only.
For example:
Incorrect: I went to the church yesterday.
Correct: I had gone to the church yesterday.
Past perfect usage in dual action mistakes
When two actions have happened in the past, the first action should use past perfect, with the second action using simple past.
For example:
The mechanic had left before I arrived.
The alarm had rung before the mum woke him up.
Future tense and subordinate clause usage mistake
If the primary clause in a sentence is in the imperative mood, you should not use a future tense in the subordinate clause.
For example:
Incorrect: See that you’ll complete the task.
Correct: See that you complete the task.
Future tense and subordinate clause usage mistake
If the primary clause in a sentence is in the imperative mood, you should not use a future tense in the subordinate clause.
For example:
Incorrect: See that you’ll complete the task.
Correct: See that you complete the task.
How Our Grammar Past Tense Checker Can Help
Two of the most searched phrases on Google and other search engines are ‘how to check if my essay is past tense’ and ‘how can I check my essay for past tense. Luckily, our tool not only helps you conduct past tense check/s as well as other mistakes. Common mistakes that you can fix with our past and present tense checker include:
Mixed-up tenses check
One of the biggest mistakes that our past tense checker can help with is identifying mixed tense errors in your work. It can help create a distinction between past perfect, continuous, and simple tenses, and ultimately help fix the mistake.
Splice checker
A comma splice is constructed when two independent clauses in a sentence are separated using the wrong punctuation mark. Luckily, our grammar check past tense tool can help correct this mistake.
Grammar mistake check
Along with helping check past tense, our past tense fixer can help correct grammar, spelling, and word usage mistakes in your texts.
Plagiarism checker
Our past tense verb checker can also help analyze your work and compare it against billions of academic databases and web pages to detect accidental plagiarism.
How to Use Our Past Tense Paper Checker
Using our past tense checker online tool is quite simple. Just follow these easy steps:
Copy-paste your text into the blank field. Alternatively, you can type directly into the field.
Click the “Check” button to start text analysis.
After a few seconds, our check for past tense tool will provide a detailed report highlighting past tense mistakes and other grammar-related errors in your text. It will also offer the most-appropriate suggestions.
Click on the mistake to accept the suggestion.
Try our check past tense online tool
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Benefits of Using
Our Past Tense Essay Checker
Whether you are a student, teacher, instructor, journalist, or even a professional writer, there are many benefits that come with using our past tense detector. They include but are not limited to the following:
Versatile
One of the key benefits of our checker for past tense lies in its versatility. Along with detecting and correcting tense-related problems, it can help correct grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, and pronoun-related errors. Along with that, it also examines word and tone usage used in your text, not forgetting plagiarism check.
Saves time
When it comes to editing and proofreading, every second and minute counts. This is especially the case if you are working on a tight deadline. Luckily for you, our check my paper for past tense online tool analyzes your text and provides instant feedback, letting you use the extra time towards research.
Accurate
Unlike most editing and proofreading tools available on the market, our tool is engineered to ensure the utmost accuracy. Our engineering team leverages Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and English grammar rules to analyze your texts, ensuring it produces the most accurate results.
24/7 availability
Another benefit of our past tense checker is that it is hosted on the cloud, which makes it available anytime and from anywhere. Most importantly, it doesn’t save your texts, reducing the chances of them ending up in the wrong hands.
