Past vs. Present Tense

Before reading this post, I would suggest reading this article first. I'm going to be talking about Past vs. Present Tense in writing and the link takes you to an article I wrote back in High School. The post is an explanatory for what the tenses are and where you may find them.

Books are generally formatted in a Past or Present tense, I have yet to see a book which has the future tense and I imagine it would be quite difficult to read. Some writers struggle with writing in one or the other and many don't even know they are doing it. Other just don't even understand there is a difference, and the rest just want to know how to know what they are writing in and fix it. I commend all of you and hope this post will save a lot of stress and insult at a later date.

Let's break it down in a few ways to quickly see what a writer is writing in.

Past is something which has already happened, which means the text is bound to have more "ed" verbs (actions). Present is something which is happening now, at the time you are reading it-the text will most likely have more "ing" and "s" verbs. This is of course, outside of dialogue as dialogue does not follow the same rules as the surrounding text. Dialogue fluctuates depending on what the characters are doing, they could be talking about past events, planning what is going on in the future, or giving a running dialogue for what is going on at that exact moment.

Examples of Past Tense:
happened
danced
talked
said
exclaimed
stood
shot
came
visited
shown

Examples of Present Tense:
happens/happening
dances
talks
says
exclaims
stands
shoots
comes
visits
shows

Let's try some example passages, see if you can correctly define each paragraph and its tense.

1. "'Hey, Catnip,' says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, page 8, 2008)

2. "At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

‘Little tyke,’ chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four’s drive." (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 2, 1997)

3. "I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring.
When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can’t say the same of myself." (Veronica Roth, Divergent, page 1, 2011)

4. "'But if you bought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years. Still practically new,' Helen said optimistically. Unfortunately, her father was no sucker.

'Lennie, just because the state of Massachusetts thinks it’s okay for sixteen-year-olds to drive . . .' Jerry began.

'Almost seventeen,' Helen reminded." (Josephine Angelini, Starcrossed, page 1, 2011)

Answers:

1. Present

2. Past

3. Present

4. Past

Did you get it right? If not, reread this post and see if you can get it this time. Those are some of my favorite books and I encourage you to read them, especially Starcrossed.