Can you have both the present tense and past tense in your story?

Answer 1

Absolutely. It can even serve as great reflection or growth for the speaker.

An example: "That was the last time I ever saw him. I'm glad our relationship is left with that memory."

Answer 2

Yes, it's possible to use Past Tense and Present Tense in the same story, particularly for intermediate to advanced English writers.

Here's an example: I was talking (present tense) to my cousin and he told me (present tense) that he saw (past tense) a video about the camels you live in other countries.

Here's a different example: I studied (past tense) intercultural communication. I use what I learned (past tense) every day. When I give directions to people that are visiting San Francisco, I ask them (present tense) where their home country is (present tense) so I know the best way to help them.

Answer 3

Context is important here, but often switching tense could be great for "playing with time" in stories, as I often do this when I write! Feel free to reach out to me and we can talk more about this :)

Answer 4

the Hebrew Bible has a word for the Deity, YHWH, often translated as "I AM." It's a verb. the verb stem is "to be" but YHWH is 3 tenses in one, past, present and future. Sometimes translated as "the Eternal"

So, maybe if you're telling a Hebrew Biblical story, you can work in the Deity and get not just past and present, but future, all rolled into one. It's similar to the Christian New Testament where Jesus says "Before Abraham was I AM." That captures past & present.

Then there's Einstein's relativity and the twins paradox, where one twin goes near the speed of light, the other much slower. They meet and one hasn't aged, but the other has. Past and present meet with identical twins who should be the same age, to the day, and in sense are, even if one is still stuck in the past.

In some literature, you tell the story in the present, but then do flashbacks to the past, which help explain what's going on the present, or give intriguing clues if not yet explaining it, holding the reader in suspense.

There's a movie "Lucy" starring Morgan Freeman, about major side effects of accessing most and all of her brain capacity, causing her to see into the ancient past, and actually going back in time. a time travel story would mix past and present, and future. Like the TV show Big Bang's Prof. Sheldon & Leonard sitting in their time machine, going back in time.

War veterans sometimes experience PTSD where you can't understand their present without knowing their past. They suffer "flashbacks" suddenly thinking they're back in the war zone.

Or anyone experiencing a traumatic event that can't be easily forgotten. Witnessing a murder, experiencing rape,

Or in history, he who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it. If lessons of the past aren't learned, we relive the past in the present and future. Or that line "Truth crushed to the ground will rise again," as the past truth won't allow itself to be buried, but comes back to haunt the present.