In Present tenses^x, Paragraphs^x, Simple past^x

Hi, There is a passage in my English textbook. In this passage there are two sentences with the simple present tense, in which I think the simple past tense should be used, and they are the following: 1. “there is always a toast” 2. “Many parties, social and political discussions and...

hi: I have a question about English tense. could you explain the use of tense in the following paragraph? (bold italic added) "In the 16th c. there are some traces of a perception that the word might have an extended application to other languages. But it was not before the 17 th c. that it...

I think you can see from the above para that it makes just as much (if not, from your point of view - more) sense in the simple past Even when I'm writing essays? This is okay? But how come in your writing you jump from past to present tense from time to time? So if I want to refer back to...