historical present tense


She has to carefully plan and write out all of her ideas in order to examine them and choose the best one. Is this historical present tense???? please answer ASAP

asked Jun 24 '12 at 18:42 Haley New member

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Your sentence is in the present tense.  It is not possible to tell from a sentence alone whether you are writing in the historical present tense (also called the narrative tense).


The historicial present tense occurs when the speaker/narrator use the present tense when speaking of past events.  This is used to make past event appear more vivid and immediate to the reader/listener.  The speaker/narrator usually begins the story in the past tense -- so the listener/reader knows when the events occured -- and makes a transition to the present tense. Often, the story's conclusion returns to the past tense.

link comment answered Jun 24 '12 at 18:56 Jeff Pribyl Grammarly Fellow

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