Tense switching

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New2grammar

#320979 Sun, 28 Jan 07 03:35 PM

The mother still had not come out of the mall. At this point, the baby, who I would guess was about 2-years-old, wakes up and starts crying. You could see that he was confused, sweating, and frantic.

Is this a valid tense switching?

New2grammar

Joined on Tue, Nov 21 2006

Veteran Member (7,676)

Who wants to go sailing around the world with me?

Tenses

Grammar Geek

#320984 Sun, 28 Jan 07 03:43 PM

It's a common way to tell a story - something that happened to you. You put your listener right there with you, experiencing things as you did at the time. However, I would limit it to story telling.

(PS - I would guess was about two years old - no hyphen.)

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (16,101)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Tenses, Hyphens

New2grammar

#320992 Sun, 28 Jan 07 03:56 PM

The mother still had not come out of the mall. At this point, the baby, who I would guess is about 2 years old, wakes up and starts crying. You could see that he is confused, sweating, and frantic.

GG, I have changed some verbs from 'was' to 'is'. Is it still correct? If yes, does it mean that I can choose to put my listener right there with me whenever I choose to as long as I dont switch too often?

New2grammar

Verbs, Tenses

Grammar Geek

#321007 Sun, 28 Jan 07 04:14 PM

I would say so, yes. As you said, as long as you don't hop around with it. If you can picture telling this story with animation, your hands waving around, using your body to really TELL it, then you can switch tenses. If you were giving a statement to the police in a calm, detatched manner, then try not to switch. But I think you already have a feel for when to do it, and when not to.

Grammar Geek

Tenses

New2grammar

#321012 Sun, 28 Jan 07 04:23 PM

"If you can picture telling this story with animation, your hands waving around, using your body to really TELL it, then you can switch tenses. "

I love the way you explained it. Thanks a lot, GG!!! Now, I have some ideas when to switch tenses.

New2grammar

Tenses