Pat tense

Question

What are the meaning differences between the following sentences?
e.g ' I was standing right over her and her heart rate monitor was going/would go flat, and these two huge men started/would start hammering her in the chest '

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

bmojtabaWhat are the meaning differences between the following sentences?e.g ' I was standing right over her and her heart rate monitor was going/would go flat, and these two huge men started/would start hammering her in the chest '

... was going flat ... started hammering ... describes the events as they happened, as they unfolded in time.
... would go flat ... would start hammering ... describes the events as the narrator knows they were going to happen.

Of the two, the first is the one you will see most often. Stories are usually told in the mode they are experienced, not (as in the second one) in they way the narrator knows they will eventually continue as time goes on. The second one is more like a literary device, in my opinion.

CJ

Bmojtaba · Answer

Perfect as always, thank you.

Pat tense

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