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Questions tagged [tenses]

This tag should be used for questions about using grammatical tenses in your work, such as questions about the correct usage of tenses or about the effect that certain tenses have on the reader's feelings.

This tag should be used for questions about using grammatical tenses in your work, such as questions about the correct usage of tenses or about the effect that certain tenses have on the reader's feelings. You should mention whether you are asking about the in certain genres, such as , or , searching for or that can help you identify possible problems in your own writing or for example want to discuss your in .

112 questions
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Shifting tenses in the middle of narration

I am writing a short story where the narrator is recording a message to his daughter about some tragic event and in between the narration, the narrator sometimes tries to address directly his daughter. Basically, the narrator recounts his story in…
Jerard Dela Victoria
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Switching between past tense and historical present tense

When is it appropriate to switch between past tense and historical present tense when telling a story in first person? Should we try to keep the same tense throughout, or can narration be in historical present while reflection is in past? For…
Jay S.
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3 answers

Switching from past to present tense?

I'm thinking of writing a novel where my character narrates flashbacks through the hardest times of his life written in past tense, leading up to the present tense. I was considering switching to present tense only directly before and throughout the…
Nick
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Which tense to use when writing a diary?

For writing diary content every day, which English tense is appropriate to use? Things have all happened already. I usually write late at night (end of the day) or the next day. Should I use simple past, present perfect simple, or another tense?
gilzero
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4 answers

Past tense writing troubles. Specifically the word "Now"

I want to say: "Now I was on the plane with my best friend." But don't "Now" and "was" contradict each other? And I specifically want to phrase it this way because earlier on in my book I wrote: "I loved to travel....." I have such a hard time with…
MegChav
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How to deal with things that still exist when writing in past tense?

Say I write this: I lived near Les Gobelins, which was a beautiful intersection full of trees. Should it be this? I lived near Les Gobelins, which is a beautiful intersection full of trees. Les Gobelins is a neighborhood and a stop on the Paris…
temporary_user_name
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Past tense vs present tense

I’m writing a short story. I am using the past tense, but I have sections where I describe people and places that are supposed to still be in existence. Should I continue to refer to them in the past tense e.g., “She had green eyes”, or should I…
Roland Govender
3
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1 answer

Shifting from Past tense to present tense

I want to make a cartoon video describing my personal experience. Is it okay if I used the past tense to introduce the story first and then shift to the present tense to make it sound more realistic? I have seen comedians doing this, but I am not…
Tom Lee
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Use of 'Now' in past tense

The prologue of my story is past tense, then the rest will be present tense. I cannot figure how to word a sentence correctly to take out 'now' or to make it sound correct. Rayanne had found out she was pregnant shortly before she got sick. She was,…
kaydreams
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the use of "now" in past tense

I want to write something like Now that he met his lost daughter, his happiness is now complete. But I'm not sure how to turn that into narrative past tense, especially the "now" part. Is it like this? ?? that he had met his lost daughter, his…
Vayth
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Are these examples of tenses? Why do writers use the tenses that they do?

I have a passage about a character who has just woken up, and then there's the line The room fell into silence. Or should it be The room falls into silence. I can't get my head around which it should be. Is it a case of tenses? that the former…
Phil
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Is it wrong to mix tenses in a sentence when describing actions?

I tend to mix tenses in my writing and I'm not sure whether this usage is "correct." For example, the sentence: She shook her head, laughing at my mistake. The way I see it, the word 'laughing' is in present tense because it's happening while…
souzan
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Do you use past-perfect in narrative to make a reference about a time before the point of narrative? Or is it better to use past simple?

I had a question regarding the use of past perfect tense in a narrative that is in past tense. Is it correct to use the past perfect tense for an event that occurred before the point of narrative? Or should you use the past simple form unless two…
Saif
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Correctly implementing past tense

I'm having difficulties with a sentence (and others like it) in the prose of a story. I've heard a lot of advice to both remain consistent with tense but also to not be too rigid about it. Could someone please advise whether or not a sentence like…
N. Anderson
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Use past or present tense for lasting fact

I'm writing a story in present tense. One sentence is a little tricky for me, and I don't know if I should use past or present tense: Present tense The tree was so massive, that it even withholds the strongest storms. Past tense The tree was so…
Carina Gunnarsson
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