Sael Grace, you make a good point there, in colloquial
speech yes, but one can still find it strange in a story, and indeed this is
what throws me, I shall have to study my syntax and try to get my head round
this thing
Subject: [norse_course] Thanks, Alan! +
Use of the present for a story in the past
Ugh. I realized when I read your corrections that I
had a couple of typos in there over and above the mistakes. Thanks,
Alan.
The use of the present tense is pretty common in American
English when someone is talking about something that happened in the
past. It is very often seen in jokes: "This guy walks into a
bar......" It is also fairly common in casual speech when talking
about the exploits of a third party. Grace