verb tenses make me tense

[Pamela Fiacco]

Hi. I'd like to ask why there is a shift of the verb tenses in the sample story from this book: study grammar through stories. "The moment he crossed the doorstep, an old schoolfriend comes up to Andrew, offers him a drink and tells him not to look so worried."
crossed - past tense; comes up, offers, tells: present tense

Thank you so much:

PAM ( so confuse with verb tenses)

[Alan]

Hi Pam,

This device of switching from past tense to present tense is used in narrative to make the action as described in your quotation more dramatic, more realistic than simply using the past all the time. I believe you've taken the sentence from a piece that I've written for the site illustrating the use of the present - http://www.english-test.net/lessons/index.html. It is not only used in written narrative but also in spoken as follows: I went into the pub last night and suddenly this man comes up to me and asks me if I can lend him some money. Naturally I was shocked and I tell him I have no intention of lending a total stranger money ...

Hope this clarifies a bit.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Word Story: Search Engines

[Pamela Fiacco]

Thank you very much, Alan. What a forum! This is very helpful indeed for an Asian like me who wants to improve my written English.

PAM