Having trouble grasping the proper use of tenses

Question

0 Hello. I apologize in advance if this question feels like a waste of time to those more knowledgeable than myself. I have spent most of the last two days trying to find an answer and haven't been able to so far. I am trying to write a fictional story. My understanding fails here:02br02br00"This time it was Brenda's turn to laugh." vs "That time it was Brenda's turn to laugh."02br02br00I am trying to write in the past tense but feel I am lacking some basic understanding of how to go about this.02br02br00"This time it was..." sounds better to my ear, but am I mixing tenses if I write like this? Is there a rule of grammar that dictates which pronoun is proper to use? Perhaps I'm missing some subtlety regarding using this/that...02br02br00This example isn't my only problem with English grammar. I have spent plenty of time reading about proper grammar, yet the whole concept of proper tense use seems to be evading me.02br02br00If anyone could offer some help, or even some resource(s) to further my knowledge, I would be much appreciative. Thank you very much for your time.0-

Clive · Accepted Answer

0Hi,02br
02br
01font00 I am trying to write a fictional story. My understanding fails here:02br
02br
00"This time it was Brenda's turn to laugh." vs "That time it was Brenda's turn to laugh."02br
02br
00I am trying to write in the past tense but feel I am lacking some basic understanding of how to go about this.02br
02br
00"This time it was..." sounds better to my ear, but am I mixing tenses if I write like this? Is there a rule of grammar that dictates which pronoun is proper to use? Perhaps I'm missing some subtlety regarding using this/that...02br
02font02br
02br
00Interesting question. I'm not a writer, but let me try to offer a few comments.02br
02br
00'This' and 'that' don't relate to tenses but to proximity. If I say 'Look at this', it's closer to me in some way than if I say 'Look at that'. It seems to me that the effect of saying 'This turn it was Brenda's turn to laugh' is to put the reader close to the action, as if he/she were there with Brenda at that point and place in time. Generally speaking, that seems to me like a desirable way to tell a story.02br
02br
01font00This example isn't my only problem with English grammar. I have spent plenty of time reading about proper grammar, yet the whole concept of proper tense use seems to be evading me.00 If you have other examples or questions you'd like to pose for comments, please feel free.02font02br
02br
01font00Best wishes, Clive02br
02br
02font0-

DiG · Answer

0<- O.P.02br
02br
00Ah, thank you very much Clive. Your answer does clear things up somewhat. With that new light shed on the subject, I think the other problems I was having are less grammatical errors, and more just an issue with my naive logic attacking my... questionable skill with English grammar. Hehe.02br
02br
00In case you are interested, one of the other problems I was having: Lets say I substituted "Now" for "This" or "Then" for "That" in the original sample; thus, "Now it was Brenda's turn to laugh," and "Then it was Brenda's turn to laugh." Using "Now" with "was" throws up red flags for me, but I think I understand now that its not necessarily a grammatical error, just my misunderstanding.02br
02br
00I really appreciate your help on this matter and everyone's help in general. I have spent a few hours now just browsing through others' questions and answers. This really is an amazing resource. I have learned so much already. Hopefully at some point I can contribute something too. Thanks again.02br
02br
00P.S. Do you happen to know, when writing in English (fiction), is it acceptable to bounce between tenses for different sentences? paragraphs? chapters?0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 Read these:02br
02br
05002br
02br
05100 0240hrefhttp://www.lupinworks.com/roche/pages/tenses.php231hrefhttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sequence.htm

Milky · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10Marius Hancu12cite10Read these:12br
12br
15012br
12br
15112blockquote

10How will reading those help, Marius?02br
02br
00Do they show that the use of "now" and "this time" are fine in past tense narratives?0240hrefhttp://www.lupinworks.com/roche/pages/tenses.php231hrefhttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sequence.htm

Clive · Answer

0Hi again,02br
02br
01font00P.S. Do you happen to know, when writing in English (fiction), is it acceptable to bounce between tenses for different sentences? paragraphs? chapters?02font02br
02br
00Can you perhaps post a little bit of writing to illustrate what kind of tense use you are thinking of?02br
02br
01font00Best wishes, Clive 02br
02font0-

Having trouble grasping the proper use of tenses

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