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[Dino and Coop singing]

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At this point, you probably know so much about tenses that it makes you…well…tense! [Girl with a tense shoulder]

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We suggest a Swedish massage!

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While you're enjoying that massage, let's review how we use the different tenses… [Girl getting a shoulder massage]

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The present tense is for events that happen in the present…

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…the past tense is for events that happened in the past… [Girl dressed like a caveman]

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…and the future tense is for events that will happen in the future. [Girl dressed as a robot]

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Whoever named these things definitely deserves a trophy. [Dino and Coop with a trophy]

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Maybe the, "Most Obvious Names" award.

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But what about events that take place in fiction?

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Turns out we have a special tense just for that: the literary present. [Red Riding Hood next to the wolf]

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We know, we know…more tenses? [Coop looks depressed]

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Don't worry, we'll make learning this feel as nice as a Swedish massage. [Coop getting a massage]

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The literary present is really just a special form of present tenses.

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So…why do we need it?

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After all, any time you read a book, you know it was written in the past. [Guy using a typewriter in a dark room]

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…unless you're creepily looking over the author's shoulder as they write it. [Lightning flashes and shows someone behind the man]

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Plus, some stories take place way in the future, which is definitely not the present…

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…no matter how futuristic your robot vacuum might seem. [Cat lying on a robot vacuum]

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But rest assured, Shmoopers, there's a good reason for this new tense.

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People who study literature think of stories as alive and present. [A book flies out of a mans hands and says happy birthday]

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Whenever someone reads a story, that story comes to life.

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What we mean is that when you read a story, the events of the story seem like they're happening

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in real time to you, the reader. [Girl imaging the Little Red Riding Hood story]

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Let's see how this literary present works with an example.

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Say we're trying to describe one of the first parts of Alice in Wonderland: when Alice sees [White rabbit jumping away]

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the white rabbit with the pocket watch, and chases after him.

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Since the literary present is a present tense, we describe the event as if it were happening [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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right now, in the present, with a sentence like this: "Alice sees a white rabbit with

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a pocket watch, and chases after him."

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So all in all, the literary present is actually pretty easy to use! [Girl smiling in the classroom]

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Definitely easier than catching a rabbit who's late for an appointment. [Girl looks shocked as the rabbit jumps past her]

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