Usage
Q. When writing about an author’s work, do you write in the past or present tense? Example: The author argues (argued) that it was the correct choice. Please help. Thanks.
A. Different kinds of writing have different conventions. In academic writing, it’s not wrong to use the past tense when quoting written works, but it’s conventional to use the “historical present,” even when the author is dead (Heraclitus says, “No one steps into the same river twice”). In a newspaper interview, however, the present implies that someone is in the habit of saying something, rather than that he or she said it one time, and it is more likely to be found with paraphrasing than with a direct quotation (Mr. Bush says that a revamp of the Social Security system is long overdue). “Said” in the same context implies that a person said something on a particular occasion (At the town meeting Tuesday night Mr. Bush said that a revamp of Social Security is long overdue). And “said” used with quotation marks indicates that the person spoke the actual words on a particular occasion (Mr. Bush said, “It’s very important for folks to understand that when there’s more trade, there’s more commerce”).
