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Past or present tense for stories

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Ubutumwa 4

ururimi: English

Alkanadi (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 2 Nyakanga 2014 08:51:44

I noticed that some stories are told in the past tense, while others are told in the present tense. Which way is correct?

Example:
La heroo mortigis la drakon.
La heroo mortigas la drakon

sergejm (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 2 Nyakanga 2014 09:09:21

The both are correct.

nornen (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 2 Nyakanga 2014 13:29:40

I would say that this is mostly about style.
When you tell a story, which obviously happened in the past, in the present tense, it is called "historic present".
It is a literary means of throwing the reader directly into the action.

tommjames (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 2 Nyakanga 2014 13:49:03

PMEG has some info on this usage of the present tense for the past, here (last paragraph).

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