comes

[vredes]

Could you please explain to me the use of present simple in followong sentence?

We went to the restaurant last night and this strange man comes up to me and asks me if he can borrow some money

please explain it to me...

Thank you

[Rover_KE]

People use the present tense colloquially like this in informal, casual conversation.

Rover

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=vredes;817488]


NOT A TEACHER


(1) May I just add a few comments to the teacher's excellent answer?

(2) Mr. Michael Swan in his Practical English Usage tells learners like you and me that

"Present tenses are often used to tell stories. ... The simple present is used for the events -- the things that happen one after another."

(a) Mr. Swan then gives this example:

So I open the door, and I look out into the garden, and I see this man.

(3) Mr. Paul Roberts in his Understanding Grammar explains that native speakers

also use the present tense in sentences such as these:

I see in the newspaper that Mr. X has married his secretary.

I hear that the Parser is getting a divorce.

(a) Mr. Walter Kay Smart in his English Review Grammar explains that such a sentence means something like: I have heard the report, and am recalling the report now.

(4) Many books call this use of the present tense the historical present.

(a) Please go to the search box at this helpline and type in "historical present." There

are many interesting threads (discussions).

[vredes]

what if I substitute 'went' with go?

we go to the restaurant....

what confuses me is that the sentence begins with past tense but then followed by present tense.

Thank you. I still have a lot to learn.

[5jj]

We went to the restaurant last night and this strange man comes up to me and asks me if he can borrow some money .

The speaker is changing to the more vivid present tense in mid-utterance. This happens in informal conversation. The past tense provides the background, the present the vivid events.