What do I do if I notice the wrong tense in the middle of a sentence?
Finish the clause and correct it in three to six words, repeating the verb in the right form: She calls me, she called me, on Sunday. Do not restart the story and do not explain; repair phrases such as sorry, that was Saturday are normal in spoken English.
Finish the clause and correct it in three to six words, repeating the verb in the right form: She calls me, she called me, on Sunday. Do not restart the story and do not explain; repair phrases such as sorry, that was Saturday are normal in spoken English.
Keep two repairs ready before you need them: one that restates the verb, and one that restates the time marker. In a fast conversation the marker repair is usually safer, because a listener who heard the wrong time can rebuild the whole clause from it. A verb repair works best when the verb was the only thing you got wrong, and either repair should end the sentence you were in rather than start it again. If you only notice the tense after the clause has landed, let it go and put the correction at the start of your next sentence.