gxnn
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2012
- Posts
- 532
One of the problems of learning English for us Chinese is that we do not have the conception of what tense is, and after a few years of hard work, I still find myself confused about the present tense used in the story writing or other works.
It is believed that tense is closely linked to the time, so it is usual and easily understood we use past tense to tell a story. I also notice that it is quite hard to determine when to use the proper tense, sometimes there are also parts of the stories using present tense to describe an event which is supposed to have taken place earlier, which is confusing us. Our teacher told us that it is OK to use present tense to describe a historic event as if it happens right now before your eyes. But I also see there are places in the same writing where various (mainly past and present tenses mixed) to illustrate an event.
Would anybody share with us how to properly use the tenses in writing (like in stories, essays and papers).
It is believed that tense is closely linked to the time, so it is usual and easily understood we use past tense to tell a story. I also notice that it is quite hard to determine when to use the proper tense, sometimes there are also parts of the stories using present tense to describe an event which is supposed to have taken place earlier, which is confusing us. Our teacher told us that it is OK to use present tense to describe a historic event as if it happens right now before your eyes. But I also see there are places in the same writing where various (mainly past and present tenses mixed) to illustrate an event.
Would anybody share with us how to properly use the tenses in writing (like in stories, essays and papers).