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snorkackcatcherCan anyone think of any occasions when people normally use first person simple present tense in ordinary conversation? This sort of thing:
This use of present tense seems ubiquitous in fanfic, but unusual elsewhere. I'm not sure even Mike Doonesbury narrates his life in present tense! The reason I ask is that I found it rather distracting, and thinking about that, I wonder if that's because in any normal situation, you'd just use simple past tense to describe what happened? I gather it may be a common usage in other languages, but that doesn't necessarily mean it works in English.
The only uses that spring to mind other than literary ones are "Footballer's Tense" while watching a replay -- e.g. "I take the ball up the left wing and cross it and he heads it in" (although more usually "I've taken the ball up the left wing and crossed it and he's headed it in" -- present perfect?) -- and "RPGer's Tense" while describing something their character is doing -- e.g. "I climb up the rope and take the jewel from the plinth". Other than that, I got nothing.
Possibly because of such uses, for me it creates a sense more of abstraction or distance or (when written) of affectation rather than one of immediacy. Does anyone else have this reaction?
I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots ... I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag ... I put the cheese carefully into my pocket as I slip outside ... I can feel the muscles in my face relaxing, my pace quickening as I climb the hills to our place ... The sight of him waiting there brings on a smile.Why yes, this post is indeed prompted by reading The Hunger Games (but not yet Catching Fire or Mockingjay, so no spoilers plz).
This use of present tense seems ubiquitous in fanfic, but unusual elsewhere. I'm not sure even Mike Doonesbury narrates his life in present tense! The reason I ask is that I found it rather distracting, and thinking about that, I wonder if that's because in any normal situation, you'd just use simple past tense to describe what happened? I gather it may be a common usage in other languages, but that doesn't necessarily mean it works in English.
The only uses that spring to mind other than literary ones are "Footballer's Tense" while watching a replay -- e.g. "I take the ball up the left wing and cross it and he heads it in" (although more usually "I've taken the ball up the left wing and crossed it and he's headed it in" -- present perfect?) -- and "RPGer's Tense" while describing something their character is doing -- e.g. "I climb up the rope and take the jewel from the plinth". Other than that, I got nothing.
Possibly because of such uses, for me it creates a sense more of abstraction or distance or (when written) of affectation rather than one of immediacy. Does anyone else have this reaction?
