writing in past tense

[karaline]

I feel like there's something i'm just not getting about tense. sometimes when I'm constructing a sentence it feels like there are two different ways of presenting the tense that are both past tense but despite this somehow one is more immediate than the other.

I don't know if I'm making any sense heres an example

He was tenderly kissing her face
He kissed her face tenderly

Is there a difference in the tense here? or is it just another way of putting it? Either way I'm confused, does anyone know of any decent online easy to read resources about using past tense in writing, either on this site or others.

thanks

 

[Serafina1210]

I feel like there's something i'm just not getting about tense. sometimes when I'm constructing a sentence it feels like there are two different ways of presenting the tense that are both past tense but despite this somehow one is more immediate than the other.

I don't know if I'm making any sense heres an example

He was tenderly kissing her face
He kissed her face tenderly

Is there a difference in the tense here? or is it just another way of putting it? Either way I'm confused, does anyone know of any decent online easy to read resources about using past tense in writing, either on this site or others.

thanks

The difference isn't in tense, but rather in what grammarians call "aspect."

Tense tells you when an action occurred: past, present or future. Aspect tells you something else, in this case whether an action happened once or was ongoing.

"He kissed her face tenderly" tells your reader just that he kissed her. There's nothing in the grammar of the statement to indicate how long the kiss went on, whether it was a single kiss or repeated, or whether something else we ought to know about was going on at the same time.

"He was kissing," on the other hand, tells you that the kiss was ongoing, and it's implicit in the statement that something else was going on at the same time. Presumably the surrounding narrative makes clear what that was.

For example, "He kissed her tenderly and gave her bottom a squeeze" doesn't tell you whether he was kissing and squeezing at the same or different times. To make it less ambiguous, you can say "He kissed her tenderly and THEN gave her bottom a squeeze," or for simultaneous action "He was kissing her tenderly as he squeezed her bottom."

Maybe someone else can suggest a good website. I learned this stuff in the trenches.

 

[Handley_Page]

I feel like there's something i'm just not getting about tense. sometimes when I'm constructing a sentence it feels like there are two different ways of presenting the tense that are both past tense but despite this somehow one is more immediate than the other.

I don't know if I'm making any sense heres an example

He was tenderly kissing her face
He kissed her face tenderly

Is there a difference in the tense here? or is it just another way of putting it? Either way I'm confused, does anyone know of any decent online easy to read resources about using past tense in writing, either on this site or others.

thanks

A very brief thought on the subject:-
He was tenderly kissing her face;
at this point one might fairly expect something else to happen, such as:-
He was tenderly kissing her face when the doorbell rang

To be honest, the same could be said of:-
He kissed her face tenderly when the doorbell rang .
Obviously, one might expect a full stop after "tenderly", although there's going to be some discussion about whether:-

He tenderly kissed her face

might be a better phrase (there's a bit of heavy grammar here, and I do not want to sink into it).

I think it has a lot to do with how you link events in a sentence or paragraph.

The difference isn't in tense, but rather in what grammarians call "aspect."

Tense tells you when an action occurred: past, present or future. Aspect tells you something else, in this case whether an action happened once or was ongoing.

"He kissed her face tenderly" tells your reader just that he kissed her. There's nothing in the grammar of the statement to indicate how long the kiss went on, whether it was a single kiss or repeated, or whether something else we ought to know about was going on at the same time.

"He was kissing," on the other hand, tells you that the kiss was ongoing, and it's implicit in the statement that something else was going on at the same time. Presumably the surrounding narrative makes clear what that was.

For example, "He kissed her tenderly and gave her bottom a squeeze" doesn't tell you whether he was kissing and squeezing at the same or different times. To make it less ambiguous, you can say "He kissed her tenderly and THEN gave her bottom a squeeze," or for simultaneous action "He was kissing her tenderly as he squeezed her bottom."

Maybe someone else can suggest a good website. I learned this stuff in the trenches.

I've forgotten most of mine.

 

[sr71plt]

They are both past tense, but "He was kissing" is passive voice and "He kissed" is active voice. Active voice receives more cheers than passive voice does.

 

[wooodyme]

A good practice is to take all those "was verb-ing" combination and try to write them with a more active voice. I believe the poster above also mentioned this. But sometimes you should leave them alone. It depends. See what fits. See what reads better. What sound better to your ear.

Past tense is preferred but passive past tense gets screwy. Some help might come from your selection of reading. Read good stuff will help but the only real solution is to write more and write a lot!

Good luck!

 

[sr71plt]

"He was kissing" isn't passive voice. "He was being kissed" is passive voice. Passive means the subject of the sentence isn't the one doing the action.

It is according to the grammar book I consulted before posting (Daniels, English Grammar).

 

[sr71plt]

Yeah I went to a Christian School so they probably told me wrong.

I always have to look these things up, because I didn't get them beaten into my head (I went to international schools). It's always possible Daniels are (there are two of them) wrong.

(Not implying that your example isn't also passive voice.)

 

[robertreams]

Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, no writer should be without it. It should answer all your questions.

I thought it odd he was kissing me tenderly while I cooked dinner.

he kissed me tenderly while I cooked dinner.

The difference is subtle, but somehow the first sounds more plausible than the second.

Also sometimes it is okay to change tense

I entered his house with a bit of trepidation. Here I was, all alone with a man I didn't know. miles from civilization. Then and there I made a decision.

"I am willing (present tense) Do with me what you will."

He reached and drew me into his arms. . .

Always read it over, aloud if possible. If you like it, remember one thing You are da riter, you decide. anyone who has ever read James Joyce knows one can do whatever one wishes e.g. "The Scrotum tightening sea."

 

[robertreams]

correct! as long as he is doing it it is active voice

 

[SamScribble]

And then there's prolepsis - 'He was a dead man the moment she started kissing him'

 

[Serafina1210]

It is according to the grammar book I consulted before posting (Daniels, English Grammar).

If Daniels says that, he's wrong. Passive voice consists of "to be" plus the past participle. That would be "was kissed." "To be" plus present participle makes a progressive--action going on.

Your freshman writing teachers tend to discourage too much use of the passive. So do Strunk and White, but they also got confused about what the passive is. In fact S&W were so confused about so many things that most writers would do well to throw their copies on the trash. (I keep one around for laughs.)

 

[karaline]

Thanks everyone, I'm still struggling with the concept a bit but it feels a lot clearer than it did before I posted. Also knowing there is a difference helps, even if I don't entirely understand it just yet.

 

[Serafina1210]

Thanks everyone, I'm still struggling with the concept a bit but it feels a lot clearer than it did before I posted. Also knowing there is a difference helps, even if I don't entirely understand it just yet.

Remember that one of the nice things about tense in English is its forgiving nature. There are lots of specialized tense/aspect constructions, but simple past will do the work of most of the past ones when the context makes things clear.

So, for example, it's common to begin a flashback in pluperfect (had kissed, had been kissing) and transition to simple past when you think the reader understands well enough that it's a flashback. Same with progressive: it's optional. So if the word you've chosen seems to you to be expressing what you want to express, it's probably right.