Heather in Fairbanks, Alaska, asks why historians and documentary narrators sometimes describe past events in the present tense. This use of the historical present is a storytelling convention that creates immediacy. The historical present can be...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been busy writing sequels to famous novels inspired by changing the tense of verbs in their titles. For example, what might be his new iteration of a classic Gabriel García Márquez tale about two romantic youths who became...
Why is the past tense of buy not buyed but bought? Often the verbs most likely to have such irregular forms are the simplest, reflecting the residue of centuries-old grammatical features. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Buyed vs...
An opera singer from Ontario, Canada, just finished a run of La Faniculla del West with the Virginia Opera. His character is put to death by hanging. Is it correct to say his character was hanged? Or was his character hung? This is part of a...
What’s the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or, record yourself reading the words and definitions and play them back while you’re doing other chores. • Book...
A theater professor who has cast many students in productions wonders about the past tense of the verb to cast. Is it cast or casted? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “”To Cast” Past Tense: Cast or Casted?” Hello, you have A Way...