Grammar Police: I have a verb tense issue. Little help?

[Writer]

Here's the sentence:

Joe patted the sweat from his brow, folding his towel and patting again.

Is that correct?

Or would it be better to use the perfect tense:

Joe patted the sweat from his brow, folded his towel and patted again.


Thoughts? Introspections? Other fantasies? :shrug:


Edit: grammar :P

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Petting. n/t

[KG]

5. heavy petting

[LeftyFingerPop]

6. NEVER do that again without a warning.

[Writer]

8. KG.... I said FANTASIES, not horrific nightmares.

k? :P

[Shakespeare]

2. Option 2.

Be consistent with your tenses within the same sentence.

[supernova]

3. *puts on editor's cap*

Joe patted the sweat from his brow, folded his towel and patted his forehead again.

edit: Unless your changing perspectives, changing tenses in the same sentence irks me. :P

[wildhorses]

4. i like the second one better

of course i also type in all small caps:P

[darkstar]

7. The second, I think

In the first, the towel folding could possibly be happening while patting, but not the second round of patting.

The second puts it in clearer sequence, I think.

:hi:

[yewberry]

9. I'll give it a shot.

S1 is pretty awkward.

If you really want to hold onto the progressive, you could go with, "Joe patted the sweat from his brow before folding his towel and patting again." I still don't like that, though.

Simple past:
"Joe patted the sweat from his brow, folded his towel, and patted again."

Past perfect:
"Joe had patted the sweat from his brow before he folded his towel and patted again." Yuck--too overwrought.

Simple past may be best.

[Connonym]

10. Vodka helps when I'm tense, wonder if it would work on verbs too

[Writer]

15. I already had some honey wine today...

actually, after typing them out, I like the second option better because it feels like a much stronger sentence than the first.

[LeftyFingerPop]

11. ....

Joe petted the sweat from his crow, folded his trowel and petted his ferret again.

[Writer]

12. philboy you haven't had a proper spanking today, have you?

:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

All right now. Pants up. To bed without dinner.

[LeftyFingerPop]

17. Seriously though writer...

the second option is correct. As a few here have noted, you do not want to change tenses in the same thought. The first option makes the reader's eye stutter.

edit: meant to say second option...not first second option.

[supernova]

14. LOL!

You just can't help yourself, can you? :D

[WritingIsMyReligion]

13. Ooh, grammar!

Joe patted the sweat from his brow before folding his towel and patting again (?)

OR

Joe patted the sweat from his brow, folded his towel, and patted again.

:D

[reyd reid reed]

16. There are just some things that you don't mix.

Verb tenses are right up there at the top of the list, just ahead of kahlua and orange juice. I wouldn't do it.

[Crabby Appleton]

18. Real men don't pat sweat from their brows, nor do they fold

towels when wiping sweat. Joe sounds like a metrosexual or somethin'.

[El Fuego]

24. "folded his new Ralph Lauren towel, the one with the paisley pattern which

coordinated with the boldly striped wallpaper in his downstairs guest bath so perfectly, the stunning effect of this made even more sublime by the fact that the wallpaper was not even Ralph Lauren at all, and patted again, suddenly wishing that he had instead used his ex-wife's old Martha Stewart towels to soak up his sweat, if only to relish the symbolism."

[MonkeyFunk]

19. Create a character

who doesn't sweat so much.

[LeftyFingerPop]

20. ...

:thumbsup:

[WinkyDink]

21. John should butch it up.

[madinmaryland]

22. Hmmm. Sounds like you want this to get locked!!1!!

:evilgrin:

[Orrex]

23. Option 2. I concur with the majority here, but...

I'm not really thrilled with "patted" as your verb. Blotted, swabbed, dabbed, wiped, or whatever. But "patted" doesn't seem like the natural word choice to me.

IMHO, of course. YMMV.

[6000eliot]

25. Both are fine.

[Eurobabe]

26. Use the perfect tense

all the way through. It sounds better.

(I'm studying English and German Grammar right now, what a trip!) After 40 years I now know the parts of speech! LOL.

[datasuspect]

27. i would opt for a phrase that is less clumsy

something like:

Joe wiped his sweaty brow.

what does the second wipe add to the story?

[GirlinContempt]

28. The first one is not correct.

Just no.

[LordJFT]

29. 2