Should I write my story in present or past tense (we won't talk much about future tense in this article)? A question often asked.
Why not write your story in both tenses, if that's what it takes! As long as it's done without confusing the reader. I like to think that authors can zip between tenses freely if they want to establish different times and eras to connect actions, make a point, show growth or connect resulting outcomes.
Example: A writer of his memoir narrating as an adult about actions in the past he is describing in present tense as if the actions were unfolding in real time and seen through his eyes as a teen. I hope this makes sense !
Word tense can get complicated, so I will first explain exactly what kinds of present and past tenses there are...Surprise! There are more than "simple" past and present tenses, remember ? How about present perfect, present progressive and past perfect tenses, etc, etc ?
Following is a list of the 12 major word tenses with examples:
1- Simple Present Tense: John walks
2- Present Progressive Tense: John is walking.
3- Present Perfect Tense: John has walked.
4- Present Perfect Progressive Tense: John has been walking.
5- Simple Past Tense: John walked.
6- Past Progressive Tense: John was walking.
7- Past Perfect Tense: John had walked.
8- Past Perfect Progressive Tense: John had been walking.
9- Simple Future Tense: John will walk or John is going to walk.
10- Future Progressive Tense: John will be walking or John is going to be walking.
11- Future Perfect Tense: John will have walked.
12- Future Perfect Progressive Tense: John will have been working or John is going to have been walking.
Sequence of Tenses
Strictly speaking, in English, only two tenses are marked in the verb alone, present (as in "he sings") and past (as in "he sang"). Other English language tenses, as many as thirty of them, are marked by other words called auxiliaries.
Understanding the six basic tenses allows one to re-create much of the reality of time in his writing.
The six are:
Simple Present: They walk
Present Perfect: They have walked
Simple Past: They walked
Past Perfect: They had walked
Future: They will walk
Future Perfect: They will have walked
Problems in sequencing tenses usually occur with the perfect tenses, all of which are formed by adding an auxiliary or auxiliaries to the past participle, the third principal part.
ring, rang, rung
walk, walked, walked
The most common auxiliaries are forms of "be," "can," "do," "may," "must," "ought," "shall," "will," "has," "have," "had," and they are the forms we shall use in this most basic discussion.
Present Perfect
The present perfect consists of a past participle (the third principal part) with "has" or "have." It designates action which began in the past but which continues into the present or the effect of which still continues.
1. Betty taught for ten years. (simple past)
2. Betty has taught for ten years. (present perfect)
The implication in (1) is that Betty has retired; in (2), that she is still teaching.
1. John did his homework. He can go to the movies.
2. If John has done his homework, he can go to the movies.
Infinitives, too, have perfect tense forms when combined with "have," and sometimes problems arise when infinitives are used with verbs such as "hope," "plan," "expect," and "intend," all of which usually point to the future (I wanted to go to the movie. Janet meant to see the doctor.) The perfect tense sets up a sequence by marking the action which began and usually was completed before the action in the main verb.
1. I am happy to have participated in this campaign!
2. John had hoped to have won the trophy.
Thus the action of the main verb points back in time; the action of the perfect infinitive has been completed.
Past Perfect
The past perfect tense designates action in the past just as simple past does, but the action of the past perfect is action completed in the past before another action.
1. John raised vegetables and later sold them. (past)
2. John sold vegetables that he had raised. (past perfect)
The vegetables were raised before they were sold.
1. Renee washed the car when George arrived (simple past)
2. Renee had washed the car when George arrived. (past perfect)
In (1), she waited until George arrived and then washed the car. In (2), she had already finished washing the car by the time he arrived.
In sentences expressing condition and result, the past perfect tense is used in the part that states the condition.
1. If I had done my exercises, I would have passed the test.
2. I think George would have been elected if he hadn't sounded so pompous.
Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense designates action that will have been completed at a specified time in the future.
1. Saturday I will finish my housework. (simple future)
2. By Saturday noon, I will have finished my housework. (future perfect)
Review
1. Judy saves thirty dollars. (present)
2. Judy saved thirty dollars. (past)
3. Judy will save thirty dollars. (future)
4. Judy has saved thirty dollars. (present perfect)
5. Judy had saved thirty dollars by the end of last month. (past perfect)
6. Judy will have saved thirty dollars by the end of this month. (future perfect)
I hope this article has provided a clearer understanding of the fuzzy world of writing word tense and how it allows us to skip forward and back in time to weave a thought or tell a story.
Thanks To : MP3 Downloads on Sale Office Products on Sale Baby on Sale Power Soil Test
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น