8.3 Verb Tense, Adjectives & Adverbs

8.3 Verb Tense, Adjectives & Adverbs

Quick Answer: Hold one clear time frame unless the meaning truly shifts; fix random jumps from past to present. Use adjectives for nouns and after linking verbs; use adverbs for verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs (good vs. well, real vs. really). For comparisons, use comparative for two items and superlative for three or more—never double-mark (more better).

PERT Writing checks whether you can keep a passage temporally stable and whether you choose the right modifier forms. Items may ask you to revise a sentence for tense, improve a paragraph so verbs align, or pick the correct adjective/adverb. This section covers tense consistency, common tense choices, adjective vs. adverb rules, and comparative/superlative basics.

Verb Tense: Stay Consistent

Tense shows time. Unnecessary shifts confuse readers and are frequent edit targets.

• Inconsistent: The student opens the booklet, read the directions, and will bubble her answers.
• Consistent past: The student opened the booklet, read the directions, and bubbled her answers.
• Consistent present (process): The student opens the booklet, reads the directions, and bubbles her answers.

When a Shift Is Appropriate

Change tense only when the time of the action truly changes:

• She studied algebra last year, and she is taking statistics now.
• Researchers have found that sleep improves memory. (past research finding + general truth)
• By the time the proctor arrived, students had taken their seats. (earlier past vs. later past)

Passage-Level Consistency

On multi-sentence stems:

1. Identify the dominant time frame (past narrative vs. present explanation).
2. Align verbs to that frame.
3. Allow a shift only where a time marker appears (yesterday, now, by then, since 2020, next week).
4. Watch participles and infinitives that imply time (having finished, to have finished) so they still match the main clause logic.

Historical present trap: Live sports or dramatic storytelling may jump to present, but academic PERT paragraphs usually stay in one formal frame. If a passage begins in past tense about a study, do not drift into present mid-paragraph without a reason.

Common Tense Errors on Placement Items

• Random present in a past story: She walked in and sits down → sat
• Wrong perfect: Yesterday she has finished the quiz → finished (specific finished past time → simple past)
• Missing past perfect for sequence: The bell rang after we took our seats can be fine, but when order must be crystal clear: After we had taken our seats, the bell rang
• Will in a time clause: We will leave when the proctor will arrive → when the proctor arrives

Adjectives vs. Adverbs

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns: a careful student, She is careful. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs: writes carefully, very careful, extremely carefully. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all (well, fast, often, very).

After Linking Verbs

Linking verbs (be, seem, appear, become, feel, look, smell, sound, taste) connect the subject to a subject complement. Use an adjective, not an adverb, when you describe the subject’s state:

• The soup tastes good. (not well—you are describing the soup)
• She feels bad about the mistake. (emotional/physical state)
• He looks tired after the exam.

Use an adverb when you describe how the action is performed:

• She feels the fabric carefully. (manner of feeling/touching)
• He looked quickly at the clock. (manner of looking)

Good vs. Well

• Correct: The study plan worked well.
• Correct: Her performance was good.
• Incorrect: She did good on the PERT. → did well

Real vs. Really; Other Pairs

• Incorrect: The test was real hard. → really hard
• Incorrect: Drive safe. (informal) → Drive safely. (standard written English)

Flat adverb note: Some words (fast, hard, early, late) use the same form as adjective and adverb: a hard quiz; studied hard. Do not write hardly when you mean with effort—hardly means barely.

Comparatives and Superlatives

Use the comparative for two people or things; use the superlative for three or more.

Rules that PERT loves to test:

1. No double comparison: never more better, most fastest, more easier.
2. Two items → comparative: Of the two drafts, this one is better (not best).
3. Three or more → superlative: Of the five prompts, this is the clearest.
4. Complete the comparison when needed: She is taller than her brother (not She is taller with no second element if the second element is required for clarity).
5. Use other/else when comparing within a group: This calculator is more accurate than any other model we tested.

Absolute adjectives (unique, perfect, complete, dead) traditionally do not take comparative/superlative in formal style. Prefer nearly unique, more nearly perfect, or a different word (more unusual).

Putting Tense and Modifiers Together

PERT stems sometimes combine both skill areas:

• Tense + adverb: Yesterday she writes real careful → wrote really carefully
• Linking verb + adjective: The instructions seem clearly → seem clear
• Comparison + consistency: keep the same tense while fixing more better

Final Editing Checklist

1. What is the paragraph’s main time frame? Do all verbs fit unless a marker forces a shift?
2. Is every perfect tense justified by a time relationship?
3. Does each modifier describe a noun (adjective) or a verb/adjective/adverb (adverb)?
4. After be/seem/feel/look, did I use an adjective for a state of being?
5. Did I avoid good as an adverb and real as an intensifier?
6. For comparisons: two → comparative; three+ → superlative; no doubles.

Together with agreement and pronoun control, tense and modifier accuracy cover a large share of PERT “conventions of standard written English” items. Practice by reading each sentence once for meaning and a second time only for form—placement tests reward that two-pass habit.