Verb of a Dependent Clause

The verb of a dependent clause is not the main verb of the sentence; rather it occupies the verb's position within the dependent clause and it may employ any of the tenses that the verb in the main clause uses.

Verb of a dependent clause that uses present tense (with modal—"can"):

Before a man can get over the chain link fence, he has to shed his magnetic belt buckle.

Verb of a dependent clause that uses past tense:

Until marketers realized that teenage boys really wanted a girl just like mom, they would only allow themselves to sell cheap and lurid fantasies.

Verb of a dependent clause that uses present perfect tense:

The women in the choir appear thinner because the seamstress has retrofitted their robes with elastic wastebands.