Shifts: How to avoid them

Avoiding Shifts
Writers should keep the elements in a sentence consistent, avoiding any unnecessary changes in tense, voice, mood, person and number. Such unnecessary changes, or "shifts," may make reading difficult and obscure the sentence s meaning for the reader.
Avoid shifts in
1. Verb tense
Except for special cases where the intended meaning requires a change in tense, maintain the same tense within a sentence.
Error: shift in verb tense

The sentence above begins in the past tense but shifts, without reason, to the present tense.


Error repaired

2. Voice
The voice of a verb may be either active or passive in a sentence. When a sentence contains two or more verbs, both verbs should maintain the same voice.
Error - shift in voice

The sentence above begins in active voice but shifts without reason to passive voice.



Error repaired

3.Mood
Shifts in mood often occur with directions, where the mood shifts from indicative to imperative or from imperative to indicative.
Error - shift in mood

Error repaired

4. Person
English has three "persons" or points of view:
• First person - the speaker
I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours

• Second person - the person spoken to
you, your, yours

• Third person - the person or thing spoken about
he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, them, their
Unless the meaning of a sentence clearly requires a change, keep person consistent within a sentence.
Shifts in person usually occur with changes from the third to the second person point of view.
Error - shift in person

Error repaired

If the meaning of a sentence clearly requires a change, then you may change person as needed.
Example requiring a change in person

Since both I and the others are doing something in the above sentence, the shift in person is justified.
5. Number
Use singular pronouns to refer to singular antecedents; use plural pronouns to refer to plural antecedents.
Error - shift in number





Error repaired