Business English C1 · Lesson 10B

Grammar Bank

The rules behind this lesson — form, use, model sentences and the mistakes to avoid.

← Back to the lesson

Grammar focus of this lesson

mixed-tense review

1 structure

Mixed-tense review
Holding a complex time frame steady across a long stretch of speech.
I've got this
Rules & form
- ›Anchor the narrative in one main tense, then shift deliberately.
- ›Perfect forms link back; continuous forms show duration and change.
- ›Future-in-the-past: was going to, would, was about to.
- ›Signal every shift with a time adverbial so the listener follows.
Examples
- “We'd been trialling it for months before the board even saw a slide.”
- “By the time she took over, the pattern had already set in.”
- “They were going to withdraw, but the terms improved.”
Watch out · Unmarked tense jumps are the commonest cause of confusion at C1.
Your own example