A question for teachers.

How do you feel about the fact that on TV most of the time people use the present tense when talking about things in the past.

eg, talking about a past king, 200 years ago.

When he hears his general is losing the battle he is angry.

For me it's, when he heard he was angry.

Just askin!

Strictly speaking we can use the present tense to talk about the past as a way of dramatizing a story. Hence, when we talk about a film we have seen we use the present tense.

"so, Jack meets Rose on a big ship, the ship sinks, Jack dies!"

Still prefer ----- Jack met Rose, they did it in a car in the hold, the ship sank, Jack died. It was all very dramatic.☺

I prefer to use the correct tense for the correct time frame. Otherwise I might go crazy and start talking about myself and my actions in the 3rd person like a lot of Thai teachers do.

If you have kept up with the times, you will notice that all of the news anchors and panelists use the present tense with just a past "marker" when reporting the news. For example, "Donald Trump gave an interview in which he says that all illegal immigrants should be deported." The second verb 'say' slips into present tense while it should be past. Listen carefully to the news and you'll find that this often the case. Also, present perfect and past perfect are rarely used and perhaps not even well understood any more. The subjunctive mood is almost never used. In American schools, grammar is rarely taught and the emphasis is instead placed on "communicative ability" so it is understandable that many of the younger people don't know correct grammar. In addition, the inverted verb-subject order in dependent clauses is dead. What you hear now is, "I don't know what should I do" rather than, "I don't know what I should do." The language has changed and become more simple probably due to the influence of massive immigration from non-european countries. Does anybody even know what a clause is these days?

one problem about not using the present tense means it is much harder to say things about the characters past or future.

Jim bangs Suzy in the hold of a ship which they had both boarded a few hours previously. Soon she would give birth to a son but as it happened it was the night the ship sinks without a trace.

Present tense is necessary to create the experience rather than just the fact.

one problem about not using the present tense means it is much harder to say things about the characters past or future.

Jim bangs Suzy in the hold of a ship which they had both boarded a few hours previously. Soon she would give birth to a son but as it happened it was the night the ship sinks without a trace.

I had to read that twice

Used to love 'Thora Hird' There I was, stood, standing as I waited, be soon I said, be soon, not late.

If you have kept up with the times, you will notice that all of the news anchors and panelists use the present tense with just a past "marker" when reporting the news. For example, "Donald Trump gave an interview in which he says that all illegal immigrants should be deported." The second verb 'say' slips into present tense while it should be past. Listen carefully to the news and you'll find that this often the case. Also, present perfect and past perfect are rarely used and perhaps not even well understood any more. The subjunctive mood is almost never used. In American schools, grammar is rarely taught and the emphasis is instead placed on "communicative ability" so it is understandable that many of the younger people don't know correct grammar. In addition, the inverted verb-subject order in dependent clauses is dead. What you hear now is, "I don't know what should I do" rather than, "I don't know what I should do." The language has changed and become more simple probably due to the influence of massive immigration from non-european countries. Does anybody even know what a clause is these days?

Is it related to Santa?

Strictly speaking we can use the present tense to talk about the past as a way of dramatizing a story. Hence, when we talk about a film we have seen we use the present tense.

"so, Jack meets Rose on a big ship, the ship sinks, Jack dies!"

As a sports commentator describes, 'Wayne Rooney scores a goal!

England are ahead!'

It is quite normal in describing literature to use the present tense when describing the work, and past to describe the author.

E.g. Tolkien, who wrote many wonderful stories was the author of 'Lord of the Rings', in which Frodo battles against the dark lord Sauron.