Daily Archive for August 25th, 2008
Tense choices 101
What is the difference between ‘tense’ and ‘time?’ The answer is that ‘tense’ classifies verbs through NAMES like ‘present tense’ or ‘past tense’ and ‘time’ classifies situations described by verbs according to WHEN they happened. Sometimes, the link between tense and time is straightforward. What this means is that you can clearly see that the situation is in the past, the present or the future. But sometimes a verb in one tense describes a situation in another time. And sometimes there are strings of verbs put together that express something complicated (like ‘had been running’). You also have to think about how far into the past, the present or the future you are. What should you do? How do you make quick decisions about which tense to choose when you have a range of tenses to choose from and when each tense could change your meaning?
I believe that you should stop thinking about the names of the tenses. First think about what you want to say and THEN how you can say it. Which tense is going to convey your meaning? I know this isn’t easy but you could try this technique when you’re writing. Take your time. Think it through. Build your confidence.
In the meantime, have a look at this very brief list of tenses.
Tenses
|
|
| Please send comments to this blog with a caption or a description of what’s happening in each picture in the cartoon. Look at the last picture and write a sentence about it. Relate it to the actions that happened before it. |
|
