CAT 2025 Lesson : Grammar Rules - Consistency

2. Consistency

2.1 Consistency in tenses

Verbs are words that describe an action or a state of being. They come in three tenses – past, present and future. This helps us learn when an action is taking place or when a person/creature/object is in a particular state.

Past tense describes events that have already taken place.
Present tense describes events happening now, or things which are always true.
Future tense describes events that are yet to occur.

Some examples are listed here.

Past tense	Present tense	Future tense
I wrote a letter.	I am writing a letter.	I will write a letter.
I was working.	I work five days a week.	I will be working.
It rained in May.	It always rains in May.	It will rain in May.

As you can see, some of the forms are not the same – for instance, I am writing a letter and I work five days a week are both in the present tense. There are further subdivisions, of these tenses – simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. Examples are listed below.

Tense/ Subtype	Past tense	Present tense	Future tense
Simple	I ran five miles.	I run five miles every day.	I will run five miles tomorrow.
Continuous	I was running when you called me.	I am running now.	I will be running at this time tomorrow.
Perfect	I had run five miles when you called me.	I have run at least five miles by now.	I will have ran five miles by this time tomorrow.
Perfect Continuous	I had been running for at least a year by then.	I have been running for at least a year now.	I will have been running for at least a year by tomorrow.

Let us take an in-depth look at the present tense, to understand the difference between the subtypes.

Tense subtype	Use	Example
Simple Present	To express a habitual action or the current state of events	I have a cup of coffee each morning. It is monsoon now.
	To express a general truth	Elon Musk is smart.
	To convey something in the near future which is part of a current plan	I shall wait till you finish your work.
Present Continuous	To describe an action happening currently	The storm is devastating Thailand.
	To describe an action that typically happens (but need not be happening now)	I go swimming every day.
	For an action in the future, which is already decided	The sports team is arriving tomorrow.
Present Perfect	To describe activities just completed	I have just paid off the cab.
	To describe past events that are true now, or with indefinite time	He has been to China. I have never seen him this upset.
	To describe something which has happened for some time	It has rained a lot this month.
Present Perfect Continuous	To describe an action which has been occurring for a while and is still continuing	She has been working on this all day.

Verbs typically have two forms of past tense – simple past and past participle. Some examples are:

Verb	Simple past	Past participle
Be (is, am, are)	Was, were	Been (have been)
Begin	Began	Begun
Bite	Bit	Bitten
Burn	Burned/burnt	Burned/burnt
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Come	Came	Come
Cut	Cut	Cut
Do	Did	Done
Draw	Drew	Drawn
Drink	Drank	Drunk
Eat	Ate	Eaten
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Know	Knew	Known
Ride	Rode	Ridden
Show	Showed	Shown
Swim	Swam	Swum
Take	Took	Taken
Tear	Tore	Torn
Wake	Woke	Woken
Write	Wrote	Written

The past participle is used to describe something which has already been completed. In such cases, we typically use have or had along with the past participle form. Was or similar modal verbs can also be used.

For instance,
She should have come to this meeting.
You have met her before, haven't you?
I had begun this project almost a year ago, but I had to stop halfway through.
If the firemen had come sooner, they could have taken all the paintings out of the museum.
I wouldn't have been late if the train had arrived on time.
My uniform was torn while playing basketball.
All the items were frozen.

Example 10

Identify the error in the sentences given below. Select option (5) if there is no error.

(1) Finding ways to bring 5G into more homes
(2) should become a top priority for telecommunications companies.
(3) They can also examine how existing technologies
(4) can be reimagined to increase connectivity.
(5) No error

Solution

All the statements in these options are grammatically correct. In options (1) and (2), become (plural) is used for ways. This sentence is also correct in terms of verb tenses and spelling.

Similarly, the second statement is also correct. Note that the phrase can be reimagined taken together is in the future tense.

Thus, option (5) is the correct choice.

Answer: (5) No error

Example 11

Identify the INCORRECT sentences from the options given below. Note that all the sentences are interconnected.

A. Plans differ on who should receive the income.
B. Some want to pay every citizen, regardless of income.
C. Others would pay only those who are below the poverty line, whether they work or not.
D. One proposal would pay just those left jobless due to robotics, a plan that many supports.

(1) A and B
(2) B only
(3) B and D
(4) C and D

Solution

We have to identify the incorrect statement. Let us consider all the statements.

Statements A and B are grammatically correct. The verbs match the subjects (plans-differ, some-want), and the tense is also correct.

Statement C is incorrect, the second part of the sentence should be whether they are working or not.
Statement D is also incorrect, as the noun many should be accompanied by support, not supports.

Therefore, option (4) is the correct choice. Note that if you realise statement C is incorrect, you can immediately select option (4). similarly, if you realise that statement D is incorrect, you just need to check statements B and C, as there is no option with statements A and D.

Answer: (4) C and D

Example 12

Which of the following is a grammatically CORRECT sentence?
[XAT 2020]

(1) You had better told her everything, or else you will lose a friend.
(2) You had better tell her everything, or else you will lose a friend.
(3) You had better told her everything, or else you would lose a friend.
(4) You better had tell her everything, or else you would lose a friend.
(5) You better had tell her everything, or else you will lose a friend.

Solution

Let us consider each part of the sentence (separated by a comma) individually.

The correct usage for the first part is You had better tell her everything. Since had is already in the past tense, the accompanying verb tell should be in the present tense. The pronoun you is also correctly matched with tell, as first and second person nouns are paired with verbs in plural.

This form is only there in option (2). The second part of the sentence is also correct, and hence, we can select this option as the correct choice.

Answer: (2) You had better tell her everything, or else you will lose a friend.

2.2 Consistency in voice

A sentence can be in active or passive voice. A sentence is in active voice when the subject performs the action described by the verb. The subject is the noun (or pronoun) that the sentence is about.

Example:
I am eating an apple. (I is the subject, am eating is the verb. The verb describes what the subject is doing.)
The United Nations is a global organisation. (United Nations is the subject, and is is the verb).
Shireen wants to start her own company one day. (Shireen is the subject, and wants is the verb).

Note that there can be more than one noun or pronoun in the sentence (Shireen and company in the above sentence). The subject is the most important one (this sentence is about what Shireen wants to do).

A sentence is in passive voice when the action described by the verb is being performed on the subject.

Example:
A party will be thrown by us now. (instead of We are throwing a party). The king of the entire forest is the lion. (instead of The lion is the king of the forest).
Why was this article written by him? (instead of Why did he write this article?).

Note that party, forest, article are functioning as the respective subjects in these sentence.

Active voice	Passive voice
The driver started the car.	The car was started by the driver.
Who ate the cupcake?	By whom was the cupcake eaten?
John loves the child.	The child is loved by John.

Active voice is usually preferred, as it is direct and usually concise. However, in Fill in the Blanks questions, blanks should be filled with a phrase in passive voice if the given sentence/paragraph is in passive voice. The entire sentence must always be consistent.

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