Note to apchelopech, quit while you're even. Carefully read some of the FAQ's and old threads. Like said above, I think you are actually thinking of number agreement.
Past vs Present
- Thread starter Kessar
- Start date
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2015
- Messages
- 210
- Reaction score
- 21
Here is the opening paragraph from "The Rope," a story of mine, set in the past tense, that appeared in Realms of Fantasy and a best-of-the-year anthology:
Past, present, and future! It can be done. Your teachers, apchelopech, were mistaken.
You say your story is 'set in the past tense'. But it seems this is not the case, for here is a slightly later extract -
" Rope-charming is a profession not unknown in this part of the world, but it has never been a common one. Most rope-charmers will use cordage, thin rope or often ordinary cotton twine, not longer than five or six yards. (The precise length of the little khedeev's rope had not been determined, but its diameter was in excess of two inches.) Some rope-charmers use drums, and others reed pipes, to "draw up" the rope. The little khedeev used a side-blown ivory horn."
This is manifestly written in the present tense (the portion in parentheses excepted).
The past tense would read -
"Rope-charming was a profession not unknown in that part of the world but it had never been a common one. Most rope-charmers used/would use cordage ..."
And if you choose to use, as per your first extract, 'as will be seen', you are again demonstrably in the present tense. Were you to be writing in the past tense, you would write 'as would be seen'.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2015
- Messages
- 210
- Reaction score
- 21
No, it's not a rule to keep the same tense throughout a sentence.
I'm watching TV today and saw a movie yesterday.
Let's fix the toaster that broke yesterday.
He tried to keep his eyes on the road.
I can't think of a single grammatical construction that requires tenses to match. Maybe you're thinking of number? The number of a subject and verb must match.
I need to be more precise - I was not purporting to state a rule for all sentences (needless to say) but rather for the particular sentence on which I was commenting. And that sentence contains a subordinate clause with a verb, which follows a primary clause with a verb. And what I learned - not in the USA to be sure - was (and remains) that the grammatical rule required the tense of the subordinate verb to conform to the tense of the primary verb.
None of the three examples you give are in the same category.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2015
- Messages
- 210
- Reaction score
- 21
Note to apchelopech, quit while you're even. Carefully read some of the FAQ's and old threads. Like said above, I think you are actually thinking of number agreement.
That's sound advice. I shall now quit this discussion.
Apchelopech, the story that the narrator is relating takes place in the past, and the tense indicates this. A randomly chosen later paragaraph:
However, the largely omniscient narrator exists in a "present" which the (or a) reader is also assumed to inhabit. Thus certain sentences, such as remarks about geography, are, for example, are in the present tense.
Iánheh leapt up. The rope stood there still, but the boy was gone from the end of it. Iánheh said to herself, "Where has he fallen to?" but the ululation was of overwhelming joy.
However, the largely omniscient narrator exists in a "present" which the (or a) reader is also assumed to inhabit. Thus certain sentences, such as remarks about geography, are, for example, are in the present tense.
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2014
- Messages
- 2,271
- Reaction score
- 297
You say your story is 'set in the past tense'. But it seems this is not the case, for here is a slightly later extract -
" Rope-charming is a profession not unknown in this part of the world, but it has never been a common one. Most rope-charmers will use cordage, thin rope or often ordinary cotton twine, not longer than five or six yards. (The precise length of the little khedeev's rope had not been determined, but its diameter was in excess of two inches.) Some rope-charmers use drums, and others reed pipes, to "draw up" the rope. The little khedeev used a side-blown ivory horn."
This is manifestly written in the present tense (the portion in parentheses excepted).
The past tense would read -
"Rope-charming was a profession not unknown in that part of the world but it had never been a common one. Most rope-charmers used/would use cordage ..."
And if you choose to use, as per your first extract, 'as will be seen', you are again demonstrably in the present tense. Were you to be writing in the past tense, you would write 'as would be seen'.
You are assuming your conclusion, that in order for a story to be considered past tense POV, every verb must be past tense. That's not true. The rope story is just being told in the style of a history, where most statements are past tense, but explanatory notes that are generally true in all eras can be in present tense.
I need to be more precise - I was not purporting to state a rule for all sentences (needless to say) but rather for the particular sentence on which I was commenting. And that sentence contains a subordinate clause with a verb, which follows a primary clause with a verb. And what I learned - not in the USA to be sure - was (and remains) that the grammatical rule required the tense of the subordinate verb to conform to the tense of the primary verb.
None of the three examples you give are in the same category.
That's still not a rule.
You say that you had it yesterday.
I made the pie that you're eating.
Will we re-elect a president who broke his campaign promises?
Maybe what you're thinking of is that this is wrong:
I thought you own a red car.
Should be owned. This rule only applies to quite specific circumstances, not every case of unmatched tenses in main and dependent clauses. For example, "I think you owned a red car when you were younger," is fine.