Kwa maudhui
Kujibu

Past or present tense for stories

ya Alkanadi, 2 Septemba 2014

Ujumbe: 4

Lugha: English

Alkanadi (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 2 Septemba 2014 8:51:44 asubuhi

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 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 2 Septemba 2014 9:09:21 asubuhi

The both are correct.

nornen (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 2 Septemba 2014 1:29:40 alasiri

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 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 2 Septemba 2014 1:49:03 alasiri

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

Kurudi juu