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Ecopsy Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
a general one about tenses
Dear,sir
Following are two short passages, and the question lies in them.
Then the unexpected happened. I had no thought in
reaching the natural heights that a human structure
would be present. Normally, I would have avoided any
such structure as I directed my steps toward the natural view. In retrospect it makes sense that a service building be present at the trail end. It may have had facilities for visitors and played an interpretive role. But the building was not present when I arrived.
From An Experience of Aesthetics by Robert Ginsberg
I go to visit my great-aunts. A few of them think now
that I am my cousin, or their daughter who died young. We recall an anecdote about a relative last seen in 1948, and they ask if I still like living in New York City. I have lived in Los Angeles for three years, but I say that I do. The baby is offered a horehound drop, and I am slipped a dollar bill "to buy a treat." Questions trail off, answers are abandoned, the baby plays with the dust motes in a shaft of afternoon sun.
From On Going Home by Joan Didion
When describing an event in the past, when should the present tense be used, instead of the past tense, and how to switch the two tenses in the same paragraph smoothly so as not to make it inconsistent.
Thanks in advance.
Following are two short passages, and the question lies in them.
Then the unexpected happened. I had no thought in
reaching the natural heights that a human structure
would be present. Normally, I would have avoided any
such structure as I directed my steps toward the natural view. In retrospect it makes sense that a service building be present at the trail end. It may have had facilities for visitors and played an interpretive role. But the building was not present when I arrived.
From An Experience of Aesthetics by Robert Ginsberg
I go to visit my great-aunts. A few of them think now
that I am my cousin, or their daughter who died young. We recall an anecdote about a relative last seen in 1948, and they ask if I still like living in New York City. I have lived in Los Angeles for three years, but I say that I do. The baby is offered a horehound drop, and I am slipped a dollar bill "to buy a treat." Questions trail off, answers are abandoned, the baby plays with the dust motes in a shaft of afternoon sun.
From On Going Home by Joan Didion
When describing an event in the past, when should the present tense be used, instead of the past tense, and how to switch the two tenses in the same paragraph smoothly so as not to make it inconsistent.
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
The first author uses the phrase "in retrospect" to tell the reader that the time frame is being shifted from past to present. ("it makes sense") The second passage is all in present tense.. so might have missed something subtle)
- The first author uses the phrase "in retrospect" to tell the reader that the time frame is being shifted from past to present.
- ("it makes sense") The second passage is all in present tense..
- so might have missed something subtle)
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4 Answers
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The first author uses the phrase "in retrospect" to tell the reader that the time frame is being shifted from past to present. ("it makes sense")
The second passage is all in present tense.. (but I did read it quickly...so might have missed something subtle)
The second passage is all in present tense.. (but I did read it quickly...so might have missed something subtle)
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In the second passage, every verb in the narrative is in simple present. Things like "who died young," and "have lived in L.A." are not part of the narrative. So there's no tense-switching involved.
Similarly, in the first passage, all the verbs in the narrative are simple past.
Explanatory material (in both passages) is not part of the narrative, and could be considered as pa
Similarly, in the first passage, all the verbs in the narrative are simple past.
Explanatory material (in both passages) is not part of the narrative, and could be considered as pa
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ecopsyWhen describing an event in the past, when should the present tense be used, instead of the past tense, ...There are no rules to follow. This is a matter of style. The writers you quote are native speakers, and they have had years and years of practice to perfect their writing.
In general, however, you use the present instead of the past when yo
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Thank you, sirs. I'll consider what you said carefully and learn. Thanks again.
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