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[AD&D Gamebook] The Sorcerer's Crown (Kingdom of Sorcery, book 2 of 3)
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<blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 9584024" data-attributes="member: 7737"><p><strong>Commentary: </strong></p><p></p><p>What we have here is a bunch of confusing verb tense usage <em>combined with</em> confusing location-based confusion. Let's start with verb tenses.</p><p></p><p>Most of the story I quoted is told using the “helping verb” <strong>has</strong> (singular) / <strong>have</strong> (plural) plus the past tense of the verb being helped. Thus,</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The paladins <strong><em>have left</em></strong> their guard posts.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Which they never would <strong><em>have surrendered</em></strong> willingly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arno <strong><em>has discovered</em></strong> a source of evil magical power.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">And he <strong><em>has summoned</em></strong> something evil.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The evil also <strong><em>has spread</em></strong>.</li> </ul><p></p><p>The grammar nerd name for this verb tense with the helping verb "has/have" is "<strong>perfect tense</strong>". But I can assure you the usage here is far from perfect.</p><p></p><p>In general -- and I am only an amateur grammar nerd, so I welcome corrections and "well actually" -- in general, the perfect tense is used to describe something that happened recently. As opposed to the <strong>preterite</strong> ("past tense" in common parlance) that is used to describe something that happened longer ago.</p><p></p><p>Examples:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Kansas City Chiefs <strong><em>have played</em></strong> in five Super Bowls since 2020 (recently).<br /> versus</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The New York Jets <strong><em>played</em></strong> in Super Bowl III (57 years ago).<br /> <br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Joshua <strong><em>has written</em></strong> a long rant about Carr's spell choices (recently).<br /> versus</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Joshua <strong><em>wrote</em></strong> <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/company-of-the-red-kestrel-1-8-2004-confrontations.42201/" target="_blank">a story hour about his 3e game</a> (21 years ago).</li> </ul><p></p><p>Now this being the English language, of course there are gray areas. You could legitimately write a sentence that reads "The Kansas City Chiefs <strong><em>have played</em></strong> in several Super Bowls", and fans of American football would know that includes Super Bowl IV back in 1969. Similarly, you could legitimately write a sentence that reads "Joshua <strong><em>has written</em></strong> many long rants", and fans of my work would know that includes that one time I ranted about the Magic the Gathering card Balance on Usenet back in 1994.</p><p></p><p>Returning to this gamebook, based on the context of the story, all of the following perfect tense sentences are meant to describe the recent past and definitely NOT the older past.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The paladins have left their guard posts.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Which they never would have surrendered willingly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arno has discovered a source of evil magical power.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">And he has summoned something evil.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The evil also has spread.</li> </ul><p>Contrast sentences like the following with preterite verbs used to describe the older past:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Empire of Bhukod <strong><em>flourished</em></strong> throughout Kandia. ( > 500 years ago)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Landor <strong><em>founded</em></strong> the College Arcance. (40+ years ago)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Marla <strong><em>birthed</em></strong> Carr. (22 year ago)</li> </ul><p></p><p>But confusingly, simple preterite tense can <em>also</em> refer to recent events, even VERY recent events:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Carr and Dalris <strong><em>fought</em></strong> a manticore. (yesterday)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Carr <strong><em>ate</em></strong> some FREE STEW for breakfast. (today, this morning)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Carr <strong><em>tossed</em></strong> his equipment onto the bed. (just moments prior to "now")</li> </ul><p></p><p>The last example is how most normal stories are written. Gamebooks are weird because they use present tense and also second person rather than third person: "You [Carr] toss your equipment onto the bed."</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>In addition to the perfect tense, there are two statements that use <strong>present indicative</strong> to explain the current state of the gamebook world "now".</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The situation <strong><em>is</em></strong> graver than you know.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Evil creatures now <strong><em>control</em></strong> all of Seagate’s ports, including Freetown.</li> </ul><p></p><p>And two that use <strong>present continuous</strong>: something is happening now and will continue happening into the future.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arno <strong><em>is using</em></strong> evil power to control the paladin guards.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arno <strong><em>is urging</em></strong> the archcleric to move the Holy Guard against the Kandian tribes.</li> </ul><p>And two that use <strong>present imperative</strong>, the "command form", wherein the command-ee is instructed to do this thing starting now and into the future.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><em>Come</em></strong> and <strong><em>wield</em></strong> the sceptre against the evil Arno in your father’s name. [from Thayne]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><em>Go</em></strong> and <strong><em>confront</em></strong> Arno with the sceptre. [from Perth]</li> </ul><p>And finally one that uses the full-on infinitive:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">We need another plan <strong><em>to get</em></strong> Arno <strong><em>out</em></strong> of the academy. (One could mentally rewrite this as: "We need <strong><em>to extract</em></strong> Arno from the academy." -- which avoids the awkward "to get Arno out" construction.)</li> </ul><p>"But what does this have to do with Saven vs. Seagate?" </p><p></p><p>I'm glad you asked.</p><p></p><p>So glad, that I will make you wait while I prepare my follow-up grammar and location rant.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Joshua Randall, post: 9584024, member: 7737"] [B]Commentary: [/B] What we have here is a bunch of confusing verb tense usage [I]combined with[/I] confusing location-based confusion. Let's start with verb tenses. Most of the story I quoted is told using the “helping verb” [B]has[/B] (singular) / [B]have[/B] (plural) plus the past tense of the verb being helped. Thus, [LIST] [*]The paladins [B][I]have left[/I][/B] their guard posts. [*]Which they never would [B][I]have surrendered[/I][/B] willingly. [*]Arno [B][I]has discovered[/I][/B] a source of evil magical power. [*]And he [B][I]has summoned[/I][/B] something evil. [*]The evil also [B][I]has spread[/I][/B]. [/LIST] The grammar nerd name for this verb tense with the helping verb "has/have" is "[B]perfect tense[/B]". But I can assure you the usage here is far from perfect. In general -- and I am only an amateur grammar nerd, so I welcome corrections and "well actually" -- in general, the perfect tense is used to describe something that happened recently. As opposed to the [B]preterite[/B] ("past tense" in common parlance) that is used to describe something that happened longer ago. Examples: [LIST] [*]The Kansas City Chiefs [B][I]have played[/I][/B] in five Super Bowls since 2020 (recently). versus [*]The New York Jets [B][I]played[/I][/B] in Super Bowl III (57 years ago). [*]Joshua [B][I]has written[/I][/B] a long rant about Carr's spell choices (recently). versus [*]Joshua [B][I]wrote[/I][/B] [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/company-of-the-red-kestrel-1-8-2004-confrontations.42201/']a story hour about his 3e game[/URL] (21 years ago). [/LIST] Now this being the English language, of course there are gray areas. You could legitimately write a sentence that reads "The Kansas City Chiefs [B][I]have played[/I][/B] in several Super Bowls", and fans of American football would know that includes Super Bowl IV back in 1969. Similarly, you could legitimately write a sentence that reads "Joshua [B][I]has written[/I][/B] many long rants", and fans of my work would know that includes that one time I ranted about the Magic the Gathering card Balance on Usenet back in 1994. Returning to this gamebook, based on the context of the story, all of the following perfect tense sentences are meant to describe the recent past and definitely NOT the older past. [LIST] [*]The paladins have left their guard posts. [*]Which they never would have surrendered willingly. [*]Arno has discovered a source of evil magical power. [*]And he has summoned something evil. [*]The evil also has spread. [/LIST] Contrast sentences like the following with preterite verbs used to describe the older past: [LIST] [*]The Empire of Bhukod [B][I]flourished[/I][/B] throughout Kandia. ( > 500 years ago) [*]Landor [B][I]founded[/I][/B] the College Arcance. (40+ years ago) [*]Marla [B][I]birthed[/I][/B] Carr. (22 year ago) [/LIST] But confusingly, simple preterite tense can [I]also[/I] refer to recent events, even VERY recent events: [LIST] [*]Carr and Dalris [B][I]fought[/I][/B] a manticore. (yesterday) [*]Carr [B][I]ate[/I][/B] some FREE STEW for breakfast. (today, this morning) [*]Carr [B][I]tossed[/I][/B] his equipment onto the bed. (just moments prior to "now") [/LIST] The last example is how most normal stories are written. Gamebooks are weird because they use present tense and also second person rather than third person: "You [Carr] toss your equipment onto the bed." --- In addition to the perfect tense, there are two statements that use [B]present indicative[/B] to explain the current state of the gamebook world "now". [LIST] [*]The situation [B][I]is[/I][/B] graver than you know. [*]Evil creatures now [B][I]control[/I][/B] all of Seagate’s ports, including Freetown. [/LIST] And two that use [B]present continuous[/B]: something is happening now and will continue happening into the future. [LIST] [*]Arno [B][I]is using[/I][/B] evil power to control the paladin guards. [*]Arno [B][I]is urging[/I][/B] the archcleric to move the Holy Guard against the Kandian tribes. [/LIST] And two that use [B]present imperative[/B], the "command form", wherein the command-ee is instructed to do this thing starting now and into the future. [LIST] [*][B][I]Come[/I][/B] and [B][I]wield[/I][/B] the sceptre against the evil Arno in your father’s name. [from Thayne] [*][B][I]Go[/I][/B] and [B][I]confront[/I][/B] Arno with the sceptre. [from Perth] [/LIST] And finally one that uses the full-on infinitive: [LIST] [*]We need another plan [B][I]to get[/I][/B] Arno [B][I]out[/I][/B] of the academy. (One could mentally rewrite this as: "We need [B][I]to extract[/I][/B] Arno from the academy." -- which avoids the awkward "to get Arno out" construction.) [/LIST] "But what does this have to do with Saven vs. Seagate?" I'm glad you asked. So glad, that I will make you wait while I prepare my follow-up grammar and location rant. [/QUOTE]
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[AD&D Gamebook] The Sorcerer's Crown (Kingdom of Sorcery, book 2 of 3)
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