2. Keeping tenses consistent

Beginning journalists often mix verb tenses instead of keeping them consistent. One of the easiest remedies to mixing tenses is to remember that newspaper stories almost always are told from the past tense, so the past tense is the anchoring tense from which changes are made.

• He looked into the briefcase and finds a small parcel.
• Helooked into the briefcase and found a small parcel.

• The Court said the Constitution requires due process.

When two actions are being described and one was completed before the other occurred, a tense change from the past to the past perfect is best for reader comprehension:

• The patrolman testified that he had placed his revolver on the table.

Broadcast writers, who tell most of their stories in the present tense, can handle similar situations with a change from the present tense to the present perfect:

• The company denies it has paid women less than men for comparable work.

In the course of the story, the tense should not make needless shifts from sentence to sentence. The reader is directed by the verb, and if the verb is incorrect, the reader is likely to be confused:

• Moore said he shot the animal in the back. It escaped from the pen in which it was kept.

In the above example, did the animal escape after it was shot, or did it escape and then it was shot? If the former, inserting the word then at the start of the second sentence or before the verb would help to make it clear ("Then it escaped . . . or "It then escaped . . ."). If the animal escaped and then was shot, the second sentence should use the past perfect tense ("It had escaped from the pen in which it was kept).

Agreement

1. Subject/verb agreement
A subject and its verb must agree, or correspond, in two ways: in number (singular, plural) and in person (first, second, third).

Agreement in number:
Truth, like privilege and fair comment and criticism, are basic defenses against libel suits.
Truth, like privilege and fair comment and criticism, is a basic defense against libel suits.
The subject is Truth (singular), modified by as well as privilege and fair comment and criticism.

Agreement in person:
The Order of the Sisters of St. Benedict were suffering from a massive decline in vocations.
The Order of the Sisters of St. Benedict was suffering from a massive decline in vocations.
The Order (singular) is the simple subject, modified by of the Sisters of St. Benedict.

Problems with agreement often arise in the following cases:
When words come between the subject and the verb:
John, as well as several others in the class, were unhappy with the instructor.
John, as well as several others in the class, was unhappy with the instructor.
The barrage of traffic noises, telephone calls and similar interruption make it difficult to study.
The barrage of traffic noises, telephone calls and similar interruption makes it difficult to study.

With collective nouns. A collective noun takes a singular verb when the group is considered a unit and a plural verb when the individuals are thought of as separate:
The committee usually vote unanimously.
The committee usually votes unanimously.
The family live around the corner.
The family lives around the corner.
The faculty was in the lounge, some standing, some sitting.
The faculty were in the lounge, some standing, some sitting.

When compound subjects are formed by or, nor, either . . . or, neither . . . nor, not only . . . but also. The verb agrees with the subject closest to it:

Either	the players	or	the manager were responsible for the team's loss.
Either	the players	or	the manager was responsible for the team's loss.

Pioneer in the Mines

1			One of the first women to take a pick and shovel into a coal mine was 18-year-old Linda Raisovich who (a) has (b) had just finished high school in West Virginia and (a) comes (b) came from a family of miners.
			A)	has
			B)	had
2			One of the first women to take a pick and shovel into a coal mine was 18-year-old Linda Raisovich who (a) has (b) had just finished high school in West Virginia and (a) comes (b) came from a family of miners.
			A)	comes
			B)	came
3			The year was 1976, and Raisovich was following in the footsteps of a few women who (a) braved (b) had braved the taunts and the ostracism of male miners. Many of the men who worked the mines (a) believe (b) believed that women (a) bring (b) brought bad luck into the shafts.
			A)	braved
			B)	had braved
4			The year was 1976, and Raisovich was following in the footsteps of a few women who (a) braved (b) had braved the taunts and the ostracism of male miners. Many of the men who worked the mines (a) believe (b) believed that women (a) bring (b) brought bad luck into the shafts.
			A)	believe
			B)	believed
5			The year was 1976, and Raisovich was following in the footsteps of a few women who (a) braved (b) had braved the taunts and the ostracism of male miners. Many of the men who worked the mines (a) believe (b) believed that women (a) bring (b) brought bad luck into the shafts.
			A)	bring
			B)	brought
6			But she had her father's protection. He (a) worked (b) was working alongside her in her first years in the mines. Above ground, however, there were suspicions and rumors about the women who (a) worked (b) work alongside the men. Some miners' wives worried, Raisovich says, that their husbands (a) being (b) were too close to the women miners.
			A)	worked
			B)	was working
7			But she had her father's protection. He (a) worked (b) was working alongside her in her first years in the mines. Above ground, however, there were suspicions and rumors about the women who (a) worked (b) work alongside the men. Some miners' wives worried, Raisovich says, that their husbands (a) being (b) were too close to the women miners.
			A)	worked
			B)	work
8			But she had her father's protection. He (a) worked (b) was working alongside her in her first years in the mines. Above ground, however, there were suspicions and rumors about the women who (a) worked (b) work alongside the men. Some miners' wives worried, Raisovich says, that their husbands (a) being (b) were too close to the women miners.
			A)	being
			B)	were
9			(a) Having been (b) Being accepted into the mines, the women were expected to take on all the tasks. For Raisovich, each year the work became a little easier. But she recalls that the "heavy lifting and carrying" (a) remained (b) had remained "most difficult."
			A)	Having been
			B)	Being
10			(a) Having been (b) Being accepted into the mines, the women were expected to take on all the tasks. For Raisovich, each year the work became a little easier. But she recalls that the "heavy lifting and carrying" (a) remained (b) had remained "most difficult."
			A)	remained
			B)	had remained
11			The money in the mines was good, Raisovich recalls. Too good, she (a) says (b) said, because it went to her head and "instead of saving money for college, I spent it all on clothes and sports cars."
			A)	says
			B)	said
12			By 1980, there were 3,000 women in the mines, and looking at their union, the United Mine Workers, these women (a) begin to (b) began to wonder about their representation. All were white males, Raisovich says. To have endured the difficulties of the early years of women in the mines and then not (a) being (b) to be represented in the union bothered many of the women.
			A)	begin to
			B)	began to
13			By 1980, there were 3,000 women in the mines, and looking at their union, the United Mine Workers, these women (a) begin to (b) began to wonder about their representation. All were white males, Raisovich says. To have endured the difficulties of the early years of women in the mines and then not (a) being (b) to be represented in the union bothered many of the women.
			A)	being
			B)	to be
14			These women knew that Raisovich had been active in the UMW and they (a) urged (b) had urged her to look into working for the union.
			A)	urged
			B)	had urged
15			In 1980, Raisovich accepted a union job as the first female mine safety inspector and she (a) remains (b) remained the only woman in that job today.
			A)	remains
			B)	remained