Hello there! So I want to ask something. English is not my first language, so I'm not sure about this. I want to write fanfic using past tense. Because that's what I'm used to and what I'm comfortable with. Usually I just do this naturally and never think much about it. But suddenly I realized, what about the words that usually used for 'present tense'? Such as the words 'now'. It's a bit weird using that word and past tense, right? So, do you have any tricks or advice for this? Thank you in advance!
Well you can just keep using past tense really, since English is dumb. If you have something like, "Arterius had just pulled the sword from his sheath, but now it was/had been taken", that still works. Past tense isn't always even past. Yay English
English allows you to switch tenses just fine. So you can switch tenses if you need to use now. But you can also use alternative phrasing such as: "I went to the house and at that moment I suddenly saw a dragon" or "He notified me that I had to get there right now" I write my story in both tenses. I use past tense for most of my story and switch to present tense during action scenes
Youd have your work sent back woth red marks all over iw if you did that at my workplace. Bunch of grammar facists. You should always keep tense the same in a sentence. And tense isnt just past and present but also active and passive.
There is nothing wrong with switching tenses mid sentence either, as long as it is done properly. There is simply a stigma going around due to amateur writers using wrong tenses. So a lot of writers are afraid to switch tenses in fear of having their work seen as amateur. Just like how first person is looked down upon. But grammatically speaking, there are situations where you can switch tenses just fine.
You Can you really do that? Can you give me an example where the tenses change mid sentence? And wouldn't it be a bit jarring if you suddenly switch tenses mid sentence?
Yes you can. The key here is knowing what you are doing. If you are simply trying to use a specific word, then you are doing it wrong. You should avoid tense switching if possible. But there are situations where it is important to create an effect. For my own writing, I use tense switching because the story is easier to write in past tense, but present tense creates a stronger suspense. So the tense switching is actually part of the writing style itself to make the story more interesting. If you are interested, here are a few examples that are used in published books: https://www.thoughtco.com/tense-shift-verbs-1692461
I have read it, but here it said So if I used past tense as the governing tense, I can't actually suddenly shift tenses right?
"without a good reason". So as I explained, wanting to use a specific word is not a "good reason". A good reason is if you want to set up a certain atmosphere or create an effect of some kind.
Oh I see. The other option is to change the sentence structure to fit the tenses if I want to use the 'present tense' words right? I guess I'll keep it in mind. Thank you very much!
When i write a story, i generally write the bulk in past tense but use present tense for speech. Even as a native english user, it's much easier than using present as the base tense.
Well, you can also use Present Tense: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_present In an excerpt from Dickens' David Copperfield, the shift from the past tense to the historical present gives a sense of immediacy, as of a recurring vision: Notable novels written entirely in the historical present include John Updike's Rabbit, Run and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
Ahah! So the reason Shini Yasui release has been reduced to 1 per week is because you're writing! Anyhow, English is a contradiction on itself, so we who tell stories in present tense gets really confused over why you have to tell stories in past tense in English. But fear not! You do not have to write stories in past tense at all! There are plenty of English novels that tell the story in present tense. So if you are more familiar with writing a story in present tense, then you can write your English story in present tense too. You generally feel present tense is weird because you read English novels, commonly told in past tense. But it's not a rule to tell your story in past tense, it only became mainstream because fairy tales and folk tales were told in past tense and it carried on to the present day, where the majority never bothered to break convention. Past tense tells the story as if you're a grandpa telling the story of how he met the grandma 50 years after he met the grandma. Present tense tells the story as if someone is narrating what's happening far away through a radio. It's up to you to choose whichever you're more comfortable with. Ai-hcan personally use both for different stories. For the tale-type stories, Ai-chan use past tense. For the more action-oriented stories, Ai-chan use present tense because it has that 'immediate' feeling.
I see, this is the 'tense-shifting' thing mentioned before right? I've never tried it before, but I guess it's a way to improve. Uhh nope, Shini Yasui only released once a week is because *cough* the reasons mentioned in ch 93 *cough*