Third Person Past Tense

JELarson · Apr 21, 2014

I hope this is the right place to post this question.

I was wondering about third person past tense.
Comparing the following two sentences, which is a more accurate example of a third person past tense, POV.

Tom threw the ball, hoping it would not hit the teacher in the face.

or

Tom threw the ball and hoped it would not hit the teacher in the face.

To me, the first seems more immersive and immediate, but is it constant with a past tense voice? Or a present tense voice. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

blacbird · Apr 21, 2014

Both are correct grammatically, and neither represents a tense inconsistency. Beyond that, it's a style choice, at least for these two examples. As a reader, neither would make me pause. You can probably find plenty of either type of sentence in just about any third-person past-tense narrative novel you pick up.
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arcan · Apr 21, 2014

I agree with blacbird. I use both styles in my works. To chose, I just pick the one that fits best wit the sentences before and after... Just personnal choice.

JELarson · Apr 22, 2014

Thank you

Excellent. Thank you so much for your help.

Jorshington · Apr 22, 2014

Both are perfectly fine; it's really up to you. I read each of them and found nothing awkward in either of them.

Chase · Apr 22, 2014

Ditto the grammar gods :Lecture:

above.

Fallen · Apr 22, 2014

JELarson said:
the first <snip> is it constant with a past tense voice? Or a present tense voice. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Present tense example:

Tom throws the ball, hoping it would not hit the teacher in the face.

Past Tense example:

Tom threw the ball, hoping it would not hit the teacher in the face.

Notice how 'hoping' doesn't change with the tense? That's because it's dealing with aspect, which merely complements the tense found in the main clause (Tom threw the ball).

Third Person Past Tense

JELarson

blacbird

arcan

JELarson

Jorshington

Big Daddy

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism

Fallen

Stood at the coalface