Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Darkness]

when u are retelling a story, do u use the present tense or the past tense?

which is correct?
He kills the beast.
He killed the beast.

and when u ask questions about the story?
Why did he kill the beast?
Why does he kill the beast?

[KejciorF]

You use the present tense when you want your listeners to be more engrossed in the story; when speaking to childern, for instance.

I personally prefer the past tense.

Bye,
Kate.

[Darkness]

im still a little bit confused.
my teacher uses different tenses when asking questions about a story.
like:
question 1: Why does he kill the beast?
question 2: Why did he go to the store?

is it okay for me to reverse it and say:
question 1: Why did he kill the beast?
question 2: Why does he go to the store?

[alper]

hi darkness,

I think different tenses are used to state important points in a story, and so there is not an exact tense

byeee...
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Universal Peace...