Search from various English teachers...
John
What tense should I use when I am talking about a photo.? (present, or past)
Last winter, my wife took a picture of my boy and me, where(in this picture) my boy was (is) smiling delightfully in glee.
In the above example, I just talked about something about the picture, what tense should I use? or what's a preferable expression?
Jul 18, 2014 7:58 AM
Answers · 2
2
If you are telling a story about when you took the picture, then describe the events in the photo in the past tense ("in the picture, my boy was smiling... "). If you are looking at the photo now, you use present tense ("As you can see in this picture, the boy is smiling...").
By the way, "delight" and "glee" are synonyms that mean the same thing, so you can't use one as an adjective for the other. The boy is either "smiling gleefully" or he is "smiling delightfully."
July 18, 2014
2
We tend to use Present Continuous to describe photographs. We are wearing ..., I am holding ..., He is smiling ....
The logic is that the photograph captures a kind of permanent 'now', a frozen moment.
July 18, 2014
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!
John
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English
Learning Language
English
Articles You May Also Like

Same Word, Different Meaning: American, British, and South African English
12 likes · 11 Comments

How to Sound Confident in English (Even When You’re Nervous)
13 likes · 11 Comments

Marketing Vocabulary and Phrases for Business English Learners
10 likes · 6 Comments
More articles