---
title: Identify the sentence in which the tense is consistent throughout. — Tense consistency and verb forms · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the sentence in which the tense is consistent throughout. Exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 1 · Tense consistency and verb forms

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the sentence in which the tense is consistent throughout.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, tense · **What happens:** identify, be · **To what, where:** sentence

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» of the English course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e1:1
# text = Identify the sentence in which the tense is consistent throughout.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	tense	tense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	throughout	throughout	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the sentence |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent sentence=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the tense |  |  | the sentence |  | consistent, throughout *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I will open the box and found a key.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e1:o1:1
# text = I will open the box and found a key.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	open	open	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	key	key	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | future | I | the box |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location box=Theme |
| 2 | **find** | past | I *not said here* | a key |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent key=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I opened the box and find a key.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e1:o2:1
# text = I opened the box and find a key.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	opened	open	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	find	find	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	key	key	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | past | I | the box |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location box=Theme |
| 2 | **find** | infinitive | I *not said here* | a key |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent key=Topic |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I opened the box and found a key.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e1:o3:1
# text = I opened the box and found a key.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	opened	open	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	key	key	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | past | I | the box |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location box=Theme |
| 2 | **find** | past | I *not said here* | a key |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent key=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I open the box and found a key.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e1:o4:1
# text = I open the box and found a key.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	open	open	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	key	key	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | present | I | the box |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location box=Theme |
| 2 | **find** | past | I *not said here* | a key |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent key=Topic |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ← previous: [Tense consistency and verb forms, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/t11/)
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