There are times where I catch myself writing present tense and past tense together in the same article. Technically, I don't think I can do this. But, I would like to because the article seems to flow better. What do you think?
Depending on what you are saying, you choose tenses appropriately. You can use both in one hub but should never use both within one capsule or sentence. Correct tense is what helps to make writing flow and also helps to avoid confusion for the reader. The key is to proofread before you post!
I do this all the time and I don't think there is a problem at all. For example, I start the article in the present tense to describe the present reality and then, when I give a background to why this is happening, I move to the past tense. The problem is when you are describing an event and you use both tenses in your sentences.
Kenna, I am giving you an example of the use of both tenses which I think is wrong. I just made this comment and did not really read it: "When I clicked, it gives me a 404". I should have used "gave".
I've also caught myself doing this. Unless we really pay attention while writing/speaking I think this is a common mistake many of us make.
Depends entirely on context. For instance;
At 11 years old I ran down the road, but now I walk. Two tenses in one sentence.
Found this: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/5-less … ent-tense/
Great feedback. I don't feel so bad. Tricky stuff. Proofing your work is what it's all about. In researching, news articles are written in present tense.
See here: https://english.stackexchange.com/quest … nts#117104
Kenna, I also think that it is matter of context. In one of my hubs, I use a lot of the past tense because I am describing people, places, and things that were around over 50 years ago, but not necessarily today.
Gregory, That makes sense. If it's history then, of course, past tense. I think I was having one of those writer moments when I was entangled with present tense and past tense. I didn't know what was up or down in a vortex of present and past. I got through it.
Kenna,
I have trouble with that too. Sometimes it helps to walk away from it for a while, and read it again later. Then you can see what's right and what's not more clearly. Best wishes.
Jean, Exactly, I do that, too. I try to read fresh.
Kenna, when I was writing that hub, I kept wanting to put stuff in the present tense instead of the past, which was wrong. Like others though, I still have trouble with the present and past tenses when writing an article. Rest assured that you’re not alone.
by elline 14 years ago
what is the past tense of manwhat is the present tense of man
by davidkaluge 13 years ago
Let us assume that one wants to narrate a story of an event that happened in his/her life or any other event from a certain period to another, maybe 1998-2011. If one chooses to write the story as if it was written as it happened by using present tense to tell the story from 1998-2011 how will it...
by sos_theresa 9 years ago
what word for past tense ( were), can you replace it with a present tense?
by Kylyssa Shay 8 years ago
Readers, how do you feel about the use of present tense in fiction?I have been an avid reader since early childhood. I didn't encounter fiction written in the present tense until I was an adult and then it took the form of juvenile choose your own adventure stories. Its use has become much more...
by MICKEY MOUSE 7 years ago
Hi Hubbers,I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my Hub The Lighthouse of Terror. What can I do to improve? Thanks!This is a simple story but scary at the same time. I cannot change the story in anyway. I only want to know if there is...
by kellieshell 14 years ago
http://hubpages.com/hub/A-story-about-meplease give me your opinion
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |