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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Confused Tenses
Hi,
I really need someone to make things clearer for me to understand, because I got confused. Sorry if my english is not that good, I am not a native speaker. So, I really appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you ...
Here's my question. As I mentioned before, sometimes I got confused when to use present tense or past tense. I know my questions sound silly or stupid even. Allow me to elaborate. When you're telling someone about something that already happened, shouldn't you use past tense? I know that you're telling that story in the present time, but still, the event has happened. Like, "The man enters the house and he kills the whole family." Should you just say "The man entered the house and he killed the whole family."
That makes me confused because sometime I feel like I know how to properly use the tenses, but sometimes I got lost.
Can you help me understand it? Thank you for your help.
P
I really need someone to make things clearer for me to understand, because I got confused. Sorry if my english is not that good, I am not a native speaker. So, I really appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you ...
Here's my question. As I mentioned before, sometimes I got confused when to use present tense or past tense. I know my questions sound silly or stupid even. Allow me to elaborate. When you're telling someone about something that already happened, shouldn't you use past tense? I know that you're telling that story in the present time, but still, the event has happened. Like, "The man enters the house and he kills the whole family." Should you just say "The man entered the house and he killed the whole family."
That makes me confused because sometime I feel like I know how to properly use the tenses, but sometimes I got lost.
Can you help me understand it? Thank you for your help.
P
Top answer
You can choose either the narrative past or the narrative present, but you should be consistent within the story. In conversation we use one or the other; narrative present tends to be used when the storyteller is more excited or perhaps more skilled. Novels are often written in the narrative present.
- You can choose either the narrative past or the narrative present, but you should be consistent within the story.
- In conversation we use one or the other; narrative present tends to be used when the storyteller is more excited or perhaps more skilled.
- Novels are often written in the narrative present.
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1 Answers
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You can choose either the narrative past or the narrative present, but you should be consistent within the story. In conversation we use one or the other; narrative present tends to be used when the storyteller is more excited or perhaps more skilled. Novels are often written in the narrative present.
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