Past tense or present tense? When we describe something or tell a story which happened in the past, we need use past tense, but if something in this story still exist now, should we use past tense or

Katrina

Past tense or present tense? When we describe something or tell a story which happened in the past, we need use past tense, but if something in this story still exist now, should we use past tense or present tense to describe it? For example, I want to tell a story which happened when I was a little girl. "The city we lived is/was very cold in winter." I am confused here---should I use " is" or "was"? Because the winter in that city is still very cold even now, and it has never changed, though the story happened in the past. Do you see my point? The climate, city ,or something has hardly changed in a few years. Even a person, like he was the boss when the story happened. But what if he is still the boss right now. I hope I make myself understood. Thank you!

Feb 28, 2015 11:51 PM

Answers · 5

Good question. In your example, you could use either past or present. The same with the example of the boss: 'My mother had a friend, he was the boss of a small company'. 'My mother had a friend, he is the boss of a small company'. To me, it is probably slightly more natural to use past tense, but if, for example, you wanted to transfer from past to present tense, or indicate for later sentences that he still is the boss, you would definitely use the present tense to introduce that as extra information.

March 1, 2015

I would say use the past tense, unless it's somehow relevant to the story express that the city is still cold. It feels more natural to me to say "was" in this case!

March 1, 2015

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