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The Graduate Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
Why Did He Not Use The Past Tense Here?
Hi there,
Please take a look at this conversation quoted from Seinfeld (A Comdy TV Series):
Cosmo Kramer: The bus is outta control. So I grab him by the collar, I take him out of the seat, I get behind the wheel, and now I'm driving the bus.
Jerry: Wow.
George Costanza: You're Batman.
Cosmo Kramer: Yeah, yeah, I am Batman. Then the mugger, he comes to and he starts choking me. So I'm fighting him off with one hand and I kept driving the bus with the other, ya know. Then I managed to open up the door and I kicked him out the door, ya know, with my foot, ya know, at the next stop.
Jerry: You kept making all the stops?
Cosmo Kramer: Well, people kept ringing the bell.
The question is .. why did Cosmo Kramer not use the past tense to describe the situation he faced and instead he used the simple present and present contineous tense?
Please .. Correct Any Mistakes You Find In My Writing As Well .. Thanks In Advance
Please take a look at this conversation quoted from Seinfeld (A Comdy TV Series):
Cosmo Kramer: The bus is outta control. So I grab him by the collar, I take him out of the seat, I get behind the wheel, and now I'm driving the bus.
Jerry: Wow.
George Costanza: You're Batman.
Cosmo Kramer: Yeah, yeah, I am Batman. Then the mugger, he comes to and he starts choking me. So I'm fighting him off with one hand and I kept driving the bus with the other, ya know. Then I managed to open up the door and I kicked him out the door, ya know, with my foot, ya know, at the next stop.
Jerry: You kept making all the stops?
Cosmo Kramer: Well, people kept ringing the bell.
The question is .. why did Cosmo Kramer not use the past tense to describe the situation he faced and instead he used the simple present and present contineous tense?
Please .. Correct Any Mistakes You Find In My Writing As Well .. Thanks In Advance
Top answer
Hello TG, The present tense is often used in spoken narratives, for greater immediacy. ) It's sometimes used in written narratives too; though not so often. MrP
- Hello TG, The present tense is often used in spoken narratives, for greater immediacy.
- ) It's sometimes used in written narratives too; though not so often.
- MrP
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3 Answers
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Hello TG,
The present tense is often used in spoken narratives, for greater immediacy. (In such cases, it's called the "historic present".)
It's sometimes used in written narratives too; though not so often.
MrP
The present tense is often used in spoken narratives, for greater immediacy. (In such cases, it's called the "historic present".)
It's sometimes used in written narratives too; though not so often.
MrP
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He also affects more simplicity in using the present.
Being seen as formal isn't good in such scripts.
As you can see, the narrator flips back and forth between present and past tense in a casual manner.
Being seen as formal isn't good in such scripts.
As you can see, the narrator flips back and forth between present and past tense in a casual manner.
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