3.5 Consistency of Point of View, Person, and Tense
Key Takeaways
- Consistency of point of view is a listed Revision sub-topic: a draft must not drift between first, second, and third person without a reason.
- The most common shift on CLEP items is an impersonal third-person passage that slides into 'you'.
- The indefinite 'one' must be maintained once chosen; mixing 'one' with 'you' or 'they' in the same sentence is a shift.
- Tense shifts are errors only when unmotivated; moving from past narration to present for a general truth or a literary present is legitimate.
- Number shifts happen when a singular generic subject is later resumed by a plural pronoun; recasting the subject as plural fixes both problems at once.
3.5 Consistency of Point of View, Person, and Tense
Consistency of point of view is a named sub-topic in the 40% Revision area. A draft establishes a stance in its opening sentences — who is speaking, whom the text addresses, and when the events occur — and every later sentence has to honor that stance unless something in the argument justifies a change.
The Three Persons and What Each Signals
| Person | Pronouns | Typical use in college writing |
|---|---|---|
| First | I, me, my, we, our | Reflective essays, methods sections, explicit positioning of the writer's stake |
| Second | you, your | Instructions and how-to writing; direct address to a defined reader |
| Third | he, she, they, one, students, researchers, the data | Default for analytical and argumentative academic prose |
The exam does not test whether third person is "better." It tests whether the passage keeps whichever stance it started with.
Unmotivated Shifts in Person
The signature error is a third-person analytical passage that slips into you:
- Shift: When researchers design a longitudinal study, you have to account for participant attrition.
- Consistent (third person): When researchers design a longitudinal study, they have to account for participant attrition.
- Consistent (second person, if the draft is instructional throughout): When you design a longitudinal study, you have to account for participant attrition.
Both repairs are available; the correct answer is the one that matches the rest of the passage. That is why these items supply surrounding context — you cannot choose without it.
The One Problem
One is a formal third-person indefinite. Once a draft chooses it, it must sustain it:
- Shift: One cannot evaluate a source responsibly unless you check its funding.
- Shift: One cannot evaluate a source responsibly unless they check its funding.
- Consistent: One cannot evaluate a source responsibly without checking its funding.
The last version sidesteps the repetition of one that makes sustained use sound stilted. Recasting is usually the cleanest option and is frequently the credited answer.
Number Shifts
A singular generic subject resumed by a plural pronoun is both an agreement error and a point-of-view shift:
- Shift: A student who misses the deadline must submit their appeal in writing.
- Repair A (match the singular): A student who misses the deadline must submit his or her appeal in writing.
- Repair B (recast plural — usually best): Students who miss the deadline must submit their appeals in writing.
Repair B eliminates the shift without the awkward his or her, keeps the sentence natural, and is the option CLEP most often credits when it is offered.
Tense Consistency and Legitimate Tense Change
An unmotivated tense shift disorients the reader:
- Shift: The council reviewed the proposal for six weeks and then votes to postpone the decision.
- Consistent: The council reviewed the proposal for six weeks and then voted to postpone the decision.
But not every tense change is an error. Four are standard:
| Legitimate change | Example |
|---|---|
| Literary present for discussing a text | Orwell wrote the essay in 1946; in it he argues that vague language enables political abuse. |
| General truth in present, inside past narration | The team measured the samples because copper conducts heat rapidly. |
| Past perfect for the earlier of two past events | By the time the audit began, the office had destroyed the records. |
| Future for stated consequences | The policy took effect in January and will expire in 2028. |
Test for a tense item: ask whether the second verb refers to a different time or a different kind of claim than the first. If yes, the change is motivated and correct. If both verbs describe the same sequence of events at the same time, the change is a shift and must be repaired.
Voice and Stance Consistency
Point of view also covers the writer's stance toward the material. A draft that has maintained detached analysis for four paragraphs and then delivers a first-person verdict — I think the agency is clearly wrong — has shifted stance, not just pronoun. On revision items, the credited option usually converts the verdict into an evidence-anchored third-person claim: The agency's own figures contradict its conclusion.
Similarly, drifting between the impersonal passive and first-person plural within a methods description is a stance shift:
- Shift: The samples were incubated for 48 hours. We then measured absorbance at 540 nm.
- Consistent: The samples were incubated for 48 hours and were then measured for absorbance at 540 nm.
- Also consistent: We incubated the samples for 48 hours and then measured absorbance at 540 nm.
A Four-Step Scan for Consistency Items
- Read the opening sentence of the passage and record its person, number, and tense. That is the baseline the rest of the draft must match.
- Circle every pronoun in the target sentence and check it against that baseline.
- Check every finite verb for an unmotivated time change.
- Prefer the recast option. When one choice repairs the shift by rewriting the subject as a plural or by dropping the pronoun altogether, it usually beats a choice that merely swaps one pronoun for another, because it removes the awkwardness as well as the error.
A passage written throughout in the third person about historians includes this sentence: 'When historians examine a contested primary source, you must weigh the author's proximity to the events described.' What is the best revision?
Which sentence contains a tense shift that should be corrected rather than a legitimate change of tense?
A draft reads: 'A first-year student who fails to register by the deadline must submit their petition to the dean.' Which revision best resolves the number shift?