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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Twilight Zone Quote

For years, my wife and I have debated whether or not the quote from "Time Enough At Last" is grammatically correct, can anyone opine...? Quote: "There was time now."

Thanks.
  

Top answer

" What is it that you see wrong with it? It is a present narrative about a past opinion, I presume. )

— Mister Micawber

  • " What is it that you see wrong with it?
  • It is a present narrative about a past opinion, I presume.
  • )
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3 Answers
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Anonymous"There was time now."
What is it that you see wrong with it? It is a present narrative about a past opinion, I presume. (Your quotation is not as famous as you might think.)
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The adverb "now" does not seem as though it should be used to describe something in the past tense: "There was time now" sounds and reads improperly, in my opinion-- it seems like it would be proper grammar in the present tense "there is time now."
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AnonymousThe adverb "now" does not seem as though it should be used to describe something in the past tense
Appearances can be deceiving. Look up 'now' in a dictionary and you'll see that one definition is "at this point in our story", or something like that, but worded more nicely.

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Here it is.

6 : at the time referred to <
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