Re: Thanks, Alan! + Use of the present for a story in the past

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

Bless

Patricia

----- Original Message -----

From: Fred and Grace Hatton

To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 7:07 PM

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

--

Fred & Grace Hatton
Hawley, Pa.





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