Week 1 Course: Paragraph Writing Instructor: Tsuei-Fen Chen Term: 100-2

Part 1: Common writing mistakes from the final exam There is vs. there has Check out vs. borrow There is a …. There are… There are a lot of

Part 2: past vs. present tense See supplemental reading materials (past vs. present) past vs. present.doc

Past tense What does ‘past tense’ do? We use simple past for many kinds of past events: short, quickly finished actions and happening, longer situations, and repeated events. e.g. Peter broke a window last night. I spent all my childhood in Scotland. Regularly every summer, Janet fell in love.

Simple Past cont’d… The simple past is common in stories and descriptions of past events. e.g. One day the Princess decided that she didn’t like staying at home all day, so she told her father that she wanted to get a job.

Simple past cont’d… The simple past is often used with words referring to finished times. e.g. I saw John yesterday morning. He told me… **In general, the simple past tense is the ‘normal’ one for talking about the past; we use it if we do not have a special reason for using one of the other tenses.

Simple past (advanced) A past tense does not always have a past meaning. In some kinds of sentence we can use verbs like I had, you went or I was wondering to talk abut the present or future.

Situations (1)In most subordinate clauses (e.g. after if, supposing, wherever, what), we use past tenses (and not would…) to express ‘unreal’ or conditional ideas. e.g. You look as if you were just about to scream. Supposing we didn’t go on holiday next year? I wish (that) I had a better memory. In a perfect world, you would be able to say what you thought.

Situations cont’d… (2) We can make questions, requests and offers less direct (and so more polite) by using past tense. Common formulae are I wondered, I thought, I hoped, did you want. e.g. I wondered if you were free this evening. I thought you might like some flowers. Did you want cream with your coffee, sir?

Present tense What does ‘present tense’ do? When we talk about permanent situations, or about things that happen regularly, repeatedly or all the time (not just around now), we usually use the simple present. e.g. I live near Cheng Chin Lake. Water freezes at 0° Celsius. I go to Taipei three times a week.

Present tense cont’d… When we talk about series of completed actions and events, we often use the simple present. This happens in demonstrations, commentaries, instructions and present-tense stories. e.g. First I take a bow and break two eggs into it. Next… So I go into the office, and I see this man, and he says to me…

Present tense continues… Stories: Present tense are often used informally to tell stories. The simple present is used for the events—the things that happen one after another. e.g. So I open the door, and I look out into the garden, and I see this man. **The simple present is common in summaries of plays, stories, etc. e.g. In Act I, Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. The ghost tells him…

Mixing past with present tense Writers often fall into a tense trap and don’t even notice. Tense trap: a tense trap is when you get stuck in past tense when the phenomena you are describing is perpetual or at least valid to the present moment.

Sample sentences I am glad I found you. I am glad you are here.