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In Spanish, we can use El Presente to narrate events that occured in the past. These are the different situations when we would make this use of El Presente:
When is El Presente used to narrate the past?
In written literature
This is a technique used in literature, in written texts. It is very common to use the Present tense in biographies or books that talk about historic events, this usage is called "El Presente histórico" or "El Presente narrativo".
Here are some examples:
Using the present tense is a way of making the event feel closer to the present time at the moment of reading.
In newspapers
It is precisely to have this effect of being close in time that means it is also often used in newspapers both in headlines and the actual article. This makes the reader feel as if these events are "new and fresh", despite being in the past.For example:
In colloquial narrative
When someone is narrating a story that happened in the past, we sometimes use El Presente in certain parts of the story when we want to make that bit more "interesting" by giving it dramatic effect.
For example:
You might wonder why using El Presente in these contexts is considered higher-level when you learned about El Presente as a beginner. This is because the type of texts that use this narrative technique are nearly always advanced texts.
See also a similar lesson on the future and conditional to narrate past actions: Using the simple conditional/the simple future to narrate past actions in SpanishWant to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
