Frage zu einem Satz

[nate]

Hi everybody

I have registered because I have a question about a specific sentence. Also I would like to improve my English skills.
There was an exercise where I had to continue a story, that is written in the past. But in the middle of the story i wrote:

"But now he is feeling a bit sad about what´s happening".

Now I am not sure if this is correct because the story is written in the past but the word "now" is a signal word for the "present progressive". But is it really allowed to change always the tense?
Thank you very much
I am looking forward to hearing from you.

[tiorthan]

Usually you shouldn't, but there are cases in which it would make sense. We cannot possibly help you by just looking at a single sentence.

And to clarify: In reality there are no signal words or anything. Signal words are aids employed by teachers to help their students decide when to chose which grammatical feature. However, they themselves don't force any of that. The intended meaning of a sentence is what really forces a grammatical decision.

In the case of "now" it usually means that something happens right now. But "now" can also be used for the near future. You can say, for example, "I will go now.", which in reality means "I have just decided to go and will do it as soon as I can."

[nate]

Thank you very much for your answer.
Hmmm. It makes sense to me that signal words are only a help. I didn´t think on that possibility.
Yes you are right it is hard to help me by just looking at a single sentence but I thought it would be too much if I post the
complete text I have written. Maybe it would be good if I post a short part of the story I have continued?
Or is it ok to post the full story? And if I post the full story should I open a new topic or post it here?

[Delfino]

You should always post your text or question in a new topic
as it is then included in the list of "Unbeantwortete Themen",
and therefore, much more likely to receive an answer.

[tiorthan]

Also, you don't have to post the whole text, we just need enough to see the context in which a sentence is used, like a paragraph or two. It's usually best to post the part before the sentence.