If someone wrote a novel that way, it would be pretty interesting. I suppose it would be appropriate if the narrator is supposed to be a fortune teller.
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Present tense
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If someone wrote a novel that way, it would be pretty interesting. I suppose it would be appropriate if the narrator is supposed to be a fortune teller.
Languages evolve. The English language didn't exist at all if you go back far enough.
And Old English definitely didn't have the present progressive... Old English (the language of the Anglo-Saxons before the Norman invasion which resulted in a crap ton of French being incorporated into English) bears so little resemblance to modern English that it may as well be a foreign language. Modern English speakers can't understand most of the words and the grammar was totally different too. You might recognise a handful of words and guess what some others mean because the modern word that evolved from them still sounds a bit like it, but that's about it.
AFAIK the present progressive tense hadn't evolved yet when Shakespeare was around (Shakespeare spoke early modern English), but I'm not certain on that. It could have existed in some dialects and not others, then later spread through the whole language and become standard. Back then there were much bigger differences between regional dialects in the British Isles. I really have no idea when or where the present progressive tense started or when it became widespread.
In this thread though, people are talking about differences in English that have arisen in the last generation or two, so the present progressive tense can't be considered as anything new in that context.
I started the discussion about present vs. present progressive. I noted that literature written in present tense differs from the way people speak about the present. I chalk this up to written language being more conservative than spoken language. Even though people have been using present progressive since say 1700 (I'm guessing), it's entirely possible for a peculiarity to survive in written language that long. I think it's been since long before 1700 that anyone said connigit.
1. There are, linguistically and technically speaking, only two tenses in English. This is true of Old English, Middle English and Modern English. The two tenses are Present and Past. Present and Past have what are usually referred to as forms, aspects, or moods, depending on the terminology system in use.
2. Every other option in English that non-linguists or non-philologists call a tense is, technically, either a mood or an aspect. Tenses do not require a helping/auxiliary verb. All the verb forms in English except past tense and present (indicative) tense in English require another verb.
3. The assertion that present progressive/continuous aspect didn't exist in Old English is sort of a red herring, because the modern English copula, used to form preset progressive (I am writing/They are writing) didn't as such exist in Old English. The same idea is conveyed by the use of beon/wesan ("he wæs lærende), which, in the development of Middle English, eventually itself soldered together with a few additives to create modern English To Be.
4. Middle English and Middle Scots both have present progressive, so the assertion that Shakespeare doesn't is puzzling. Malory and Shakespeare are typically used as case studies for the increasing use of the progressive in English; both use it, but neither use it frequently, and, in the case of Shakespeare, it's more common in the later plays than the earlier. If you google Shakespeare and "progressive tense" or "Present progressive" you'll find several examples.
5. Here's a handout page from my colleague in Toronto, George Lamont, with examples.
2. Every other option in English that non-linguists or non-philologists call a tense is, technically, either a mood or an aspect. Tenses do not require a helping/auxiliary verb. All the verb forms in English except past tense and present (indicative) tense in English require another verb.
3. The assertion that present progressive/continuous aspect didn't exist in Old English is sort of a red herring, because the modern English copula, used to form preset progressive (I am writing/They are writing) didn't as such exist in Old English. The same idea is conveyed by the use of beon/wesan ("he wæs lærende), which, in the development of Middle English, eventually itself soldered together with a few additives to create modern English To Be.
4. Middle English and Middle Scots both have present progressive, so the assertion that Shakespeare doesn't is puzzling. Malory and Shakespeare are typically used as case studies for the increasing use of the progressive in English; both use it, but neither use it frequently, and, in the case of Shakespeare, it's more common in the later plays than the earlier. If you google Shakespeare and "progressive tense" or "Present progressive" you'll find several examples.
5. Here's a handout page from my colleague in Toronto, George Lamont, with examples.
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I'm kinda late to this thread but feel compelled to chime in.
I've had this experience before, and yes, it's mentally exhausting to "translate" it into past tense.
OTOH, I've read some present tense stories and they felt perfectly natural.
Last night I started reading Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife and the first scene is in present tense. I think she handled it very well because the imagery sparkles and the story moves along nicely. I never stopped and thought, OMG, it's written in present tense.
I'm currently writing a scene in both present tense and 2nd POV, two techniques that many writers are allergic to. Yikes and double yikes! It's the most difficult thing I've ever written. No one has seen it except the first three lines which I shared a few weeks ago. Most of the responses were very positive, but, yes, of course, it was only three sentences.
Because of previous context, the scene makes no sense if written in past tense or in 1st or 3rd person POV. I'm counting on the imagery, voice, and rhythm to carry the scene through. If not, the entire novel crumbles.
It's challenging but it's also fun too. Just the attempt has improved my writing chops.
I'm glad you said this. That's exactly the reason why I'm writing the scene in present tense! If I could give you 50,000 rep points I would. It's the first tense we learn to speak, read and write, isn't it? It was for me anyway - Dick, Jane, and Spot stuff.
I've had this experience before, and yes, it's mentally exhausting to "translate" it into past tense.
OTOH, I've read some present tense stories and they felt perfectly natural.
Last night I started reading Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife and the first scene is in present tense. I think she handled it very well because the imagery sparkles and the story moves along nicely. I never stopped and thought, OMG, it's written in present tense.
I'm currently writing a scene in both present tense and 2nd POV, two techniques that many writers are allergic to. Yikes and double yikes! It's the most difficult thing I've ever written. No one has seen it except the first three lines which I shared a few weeks ago. Most of the responses were very positive, but, yes, of course, it was only three sentences.
Because of previous context, the scene makes no sense if written in past tense or in 1st or 3rd person POV. I'm counting on the imagery, voice, and rhythm to carry the scene through. If not, the entire novel crumbles.
It's challenging but it's also fun too. Just the attempt has improved my writing chops.
I'm glad you said this. That's exactly the reason why I'm writing the scene in present tense! If I could give you 50,000 rep points I would. It's the first tense we learn to speak, read and write, isn't it? It was for me anyway - Dick, Jane, and Spot stuff.
Uh, I think you'll find that The Bible was written in Jacobean English, thousands of years ago.
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I'm not fond of present in prose fiction, though I have enjoyed books written that way on occasion.
What drives me to distraction is what's called the "Historical Present," often used in historical documentaries where they describe everything in present. If they could just get rid of that, I would be happy.
What drives me to distraction is what's called the "Historical Present," often used in historical documentaries where they describe everything in present. If they could just get rid of that, I would be happy.
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