sequence of tenses

Are you learning Latin with Wheelock's Latin 6th Edition? Here's where you can meet other learners using this textbook. Use this board to ask questions and post your work for feedback.
Post Reply
spqr
Textkit Fan
Posts: 240
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:13 pm
Location: Hemet, CA, USA

sequence of tenses

Post by spqr »

Wheelock p. 205 says an exception to the rule is " a present tense used for the vivid narration of past events". Could someone please provide an example demonstrating this? I don't recall seeing a sentence like this in the book iteslf.

User avatar
furrykef
Textkit Enthusiast
Posts: 370
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:18 am

Re: sequence of tenses

Post by furrykef »

This doesn't really have to do with sequence of tenses in itself. It just brought it up rather confusingly in the context of sequence of tenses, which I think was completely unnecessary, especially since it didn't even elaborate on it.

We do something like this in English: "So this guy walks up to me and he says..." -- even though you're clearly talking about something that happened in the past. The Latin usage is similar, though perhaps broader in application and not so colloquial. As for how sequence of tenses plays into it, I'm not entirely sure...
Founder of Learning Languages Through Video Games.

Delirant isti romani!

Post Reply