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.
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Should this sentence use "might be" or "might have been"?
I am writing about a woman who has found an anonymous parcel on her desk, and she is talking to her colleague to find out who might have sent it...
The novel is written in past tense, and I am not ...
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'This time' vs 'that time' in past tense narrative
I am writing a past-tense personal narrative and I'm having a hard time distinguishing which term would be best in this instance. Quote for context:
My parents always told me not to lie because lying ...
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Can you switch from past to present tense to expound on an action?
If the text is primarily past tense, can you briefly switch to present tense to expound on an action? An example is as follows.
She took one step before the brass bell above her door echoed a sharp ...
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Is the occasional practical exposition jarring?
I always try to keep exposition to a minimum; whenever there is any backstory or worldbuilding, I let it come out via dialogue. The narration is impersonal; I don't want it to feel like someone's ...
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How can I vary the POVs in past tense? [closed]
I'm writing my book in the past tense (even though I hate it, it makes the most sense). I wanted to vary the POVs in the story. Should I scrap the idea, or is there a way to write it without it ...
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Perfect tense for flashbacks - when can I skip it?
I have a question about tenses. Similar issues have been discussed in other threads, but I have a very specific question.
Now, most stories (including the one I'm working on) are written in the past ...
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Describing people in a book that is first person
I am writing a novel that is in present tense. I'm worried I'm going back and forth from present to past tense when I describe the physical characteristics of people my main character meets.
Here are ...
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Using past or present tense when writing about an event occurring on that day
I was wondering which of the two sentences are correct:
The homework was due today
The homework is due today
My story is written in past tense, but character X says this in narration during the ...
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1
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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 '...
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Do I write the later chapters of my book in present tense because they happen after the prologue, or in past tense like the chapters before?
I've written my prologue in present tense. The rest of it is a flash to the past that leads up to that moment which I write in past tense. When I get to the current part of the book where the prologue ...
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"Lack of [plural]": should accompanying verb be singular or plural?
In this sentence:
It’s not our lack of answers to these problems that causes us such pain.
My word processor tells me that "causes" should be in the plural form "cause", but I'm ...
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I thought I understood tenses
I'm writing a story in the past tense, third person, deep POV. Similar to the first person, that implies that some of the narration can be read as the character's thoughts. Here are two trite examples:...
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Can you use tenses illogically as a stylistic choice?
Can you use tenses illogically as a stylistic choice?
This was the seed of your undoing.
This mistake will end up killing you.
There's a tense mismatch between the first and second sentences. Can ...
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Should a summary of an event be in past tense, or present tense like the rest of the writing?
Knowing that I'm writing using the present simple, should I switch to the past simple when summarizing an event that does not need a long description? Or this would be considered as a misuse of tenses?...
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Should character descriptions be written in past or present tense?
My novel is written in past tense and I'm wondering if the description of my characters should be written in present or in past too, especially if my characters are part of a series and will be ...
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When to use simple past or present perfect in scientific papers?
What are the best rules for scientific papers to decide whether to put a sentence in simple past or present perfect tense?
Example
Shapiro et al. (2012) use present perfect in the following sentence:
...
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How to write in third person present tense without making it sound awkward?
Generally it is preferred that one use present tense with POV, or at least it sounds organic.
Are there any ground rules I can make use of to exploit third person present tense to the fullest without ...
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Present tense in personal recounts
I'm writing a travel memoir and have come across a dilemma of sorts. Yes, I know that a memoir is usually written in the past tense -- since it happened in the past. But certain facts remain true as I ...
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Are there rules related to tense used? [closed]
I started my novel in third person, past tense, then I changed it to third person present tense, then I changed it to first person present tense, and now I've changed it to first person past tense. I ...
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Can the first-person narrator use both past and present tenses?
My first person narrator is telling his story in the past tense but there are present tense realities too that get me confused what tense to use.
For instance, here are two paragraphs:
When I came ...
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Avoiding tenses problems
I think I'm facing many problems concerning the use of tense when I write things..so is there any app or website that can check my mistakes and correct them?
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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 ...
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Is Third-Person Present Tense Common and Popular in Adult Novels?
I was wondering if third-person present tense was common and popular in adult novels. I know when I'm reading Young Adult novels that this tense is like the norm. I mostly write YA novels so I can ...
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Past or present tense when describing a well-known method in the description of an experiment?
I am describing an experiment for a scientific paper. In this experiment, I use a very well-known technique which I briefly describe, similar to the following variant (#1):
In this experiment, we ...
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Past tense or not in a statement about a general idea [closed]
Sometimes, I come across with a problem like this: I don't know if I should use past tense or not in the sentence like below.
Nine out of ten adults live a mentally health life. The one who doesn't ...
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Tense change when referring to how protagonist currently is while he is describing events
I have written a novel that I want to send out to agents, but I'm now having doubts as to whether it is polished enough to do so yet. A big problem for me right now is tense.
My novel is written in ...
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What is this writing style called and how can I remove pronouns?
Some background. I am currently in the editing phase of my dissertation and I have no clue what 'tense?'/'personage?'/writing 'style?' I have used.
For example consider the sentence, "In this ...
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What tense should the dialogues be in a first person singular write-ups?
I am writing my novel in first person singular in the past tense as narrated by the protagonist. So obviously the narrative is in past tense, but I am confused about how to write dialogue, whether it ...
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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....
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What tense to use for events that are still happening?
The question is similar to this but the answers does not answer me. In my general fiction novel, which is told in first person singular past tense, I encounter moments where I am confused whether to ...
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Past vs. present tense when referring to a fictional character
What would you write when referring to a fictional character in a non-fiction work? e.g. Tom Sawyer is a boy, he has no parents, he goes on adventures or Tom Sawyer was a boy, he had no parents, he ...
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In one book can one narrator be in present and the other in past?
I'm currently planning a book series that is told from the first person perspective of 5 different characters. I have a different voice for all of the characters, but I think that 2 of the characters ...
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Switching tense and point of view between the chapters [duplicate]
I'm writing a story told mostly in first person point of view in present tense where the narrator alternates between two characters from chapter to chapter.
I have gotten some critics about this ...
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Historical Present in English?
As a historian, I at times get my fingers on Latin texts. Latin has a rather peculiar use of past and present tenses:
Usually, texts are written in Imperfect, which is the 'simple past', with things ...
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Is it confusing for English speakers to see mixed tenses in narration?
I translate fanfiction stories from Russian into English as a hobby and I'm a bit confused about tenses. In Russian, it's normal to mix past and present tenses in generally past narration, but I ...
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Varying POV and tense
My novel is written in the third person. When changing POV between different scenes (or chapters), is it OK if the parts for different POV characters use different tenses: some - the past tense, and ...
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Should I change from past to present tense to state a fact that continues into the present and is unyielding?
Within narration in past tense, should a statement of a universally true fact be in past tense or in present tense? For example, in the short text:
It was late afternoon in Zubrin. The air was ...
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Flashforward Tense
I am a new-ish author. I've written a lot of books, but they've never been published. Anyway, for this new book I'm about to write the first scene is a flash-forward to the end of the book. I really ...
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How can I avoid repetition of "I", while keeping present tense in first person? [duplicate]
I'm writing a first-person fantasy novel. I can't exactly figure out how to avoid the repetition of "I" when explaining the actions of the character. Any way I have ever seen makes the story seem like ...
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Are characters' internal thoughts written in past or present tense?
Is there a general rule for past vs. present tense for a character's internal thoughts? Direct thoughts in present, while indirect thoughts in past?
I'm thinking specifically of 1st person here.
I ...
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Confusion about scientific writing tenses
I am writing a study for my second academic degree. As usual it has research questions and objectives. My confusion lies in the tenses for these two. The research questions have been answered and the ...
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Are there any rules to follow about the narrator mixing past and present tense in writing?
I'm editing a short story that's been written in the past tense, however at some points I slip up and use a lot of present tense to describe some scenes. Thing is, it's happened often enough that I've ...
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Shifting from Past tense to present tense [closed]
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? ...
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Can I change tenses in my first person YA novel?
I'm half way through a YA science fiction novel that is told in 1st person, past tense.
Currently there are two chapters in different tenses.
One is 2nd person, present tense - the p.o.v. of an AI. ...
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Confusion about usage of present tense vs past tense vs mixed
I am quite new to writing so I hope my question makes any sense.
I'm trying to write a first draft of a story that has been haunting me for quite a while. Even though I'm fine with it to fail, I ...
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A question about Past Participle vs Simple Past in a novel
The novel is in past tense and the character is recounting things that happened before the novel began. Should I be using the past participle? Everything I read says that using the word "had" is a big ...
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How to avoid slipping into the wrong tense?
In one of the stories I'm writing at the moment, when the narrator is in the scene, the story is in present tense (which is painful, but so far I like the result). The rest is in the much easier to ...
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Converting/rewriting present tense narratives to past tense gracefully. Not a question about verb conjugation
I decided a few chapters into a book I'm writing that I dislike present tense, and that I would need to go back and make all instances of present tense past tense to maintain consistency. However, now ...
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Issue of tense and breaking the fourth wall/meta
Looking at another thread on tense, I realize that this one of mine may be misconstrued as me asking for help fixing a specific paragraph. Rather than that, I am asking for advice in general on ...
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First person plural for charisma?
I've been writing a friendly tutorial series for a small art software community. Somehow I decided to write it in first person plural, so the entire tutorial is "First, let's do this..." and "Now we ...
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