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Knightofsports Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

there's /there was

Telling a story about my flight back a few days ago. Can I start with either:

On my flight back to California, there's this Indian guy that starts to freakout on the plane.

or

On my flight back to California, there was this Indian guy that started to freakout on the plane.

Are both useable?

Thanks!
  

Top answer

On my back flight to the California, there was an indian guy, who started to freakout on the plane.

— Camsians

  • On my back flight to the California, there was an indian guy, who started to freakout on the plane.
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7 Answers
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On my back flight to the California, there was an indian guy, who started to freakout on the plane.
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On my return flight to California there was an Indian man who started to freak out on the plane. [ Try this! ]
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Hello Philip, but I've heard many stories that happened in the past be told in the present tense. How is it that people can do this and is there a rule when telling a past occurrence in the present tense?

Thank you!
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Knightofsportsstories that happened in the past be told in the present tense
It is, indeed, very common in casual speech. It is also used by some writers in more formal situations. I tell students that it is better to "keep to the rules" until they have mastered the language and then go into personal stylized writing. You are the judge of where you a
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PhilipQuote
It's not hard for me to tell the story in the past tense and stick to the past tense, so that's why I kind of want to take the next step and try to forward shift the story to the present tense to make it sound more lively. Is there a technique or rule for doing it?
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Knightofsports Telling a story about my flight back a few days ago. Can I start with either:On my flight back to California, there's this Indian guy that starts to freakout on the plane.orOn my flight back to California, there was this Indian guy that started to freakout on the plane.Are both useable?Thanks!
For a more casual style:

So I'm on my fligh
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On my flight back to California, there was this Indian guy who started to freak out on the plane (this is redundant since you have already said that the incident occurred during the flight).
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