Verb tense refers to when an action takes place. There are three simple tenses of a verb:
The present tense indicates an action taking place—right now—at this moment. I work.
The past tense indicates an action that has occured in the past. I worked.
The future tense indicates an action that will occur in the future. I will work.
To avoid awkward or confusing sentences, a writer should not unreasonably change verb tenses within a sentence or in a related group of sentences:
Incorrect
Alex saw the woman with the red umbrella as she hails a cab. He approaches her andasked for a date. At first, she is unsure about accepting but quickly changed her mind and says yes.
Here, the writer has no reason to switch back and forth between tenses because all the action is occurring in the same time frame. The passage must be revised to make all the verbs either present or past tense, depending on the writer's preference.
Present tense makes the action more immediate:
Alex sees the woman with the red umbrella as she hails a cab. He approaches her andasks for a date. At first, she is unsure about accepting but quickly changes her mind andsays yes.
Past tense makes the action more distant:
Alex saw the woman with the red umbrella as she hailed a cab. He approached her andasked for a date. At first, she was unsure about accepting but quickly changed her mind and said yes.
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