I was playing basket-ball when it starts raining, Or...

[Mooradist]

Hello,

Can someone correct this please

I was playing basketball when it starts raining. Or
I was playing basketball when it started to rain.

thanks

 

[MikeNewYork]

Your first sentence is incorrect; your second is correct.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

It's grammatically incorrect, but quite a common way of relating personal experiences in spoken American English. I've heard it called the Historical Present Tense. Slate's Lexicon Valley did a nice podcast about it. I think this is a link: http://www.slate.com/articles/podca...nfeld_and_the_novels_of_charlotte_bronte.html

It brings the listener into a more intimate and immediate experience of a past event.

A lot of jokes are told in this way: "A guy walks into a bar..."

 

[MikeNewYork]

Without context, it would be difficult to arrive at that conclusion. But I do agree with your comment about the historical present.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Three guys are walking down the street. Two walk into a bar. The third guy ducks.

 

[Matthew Wai]

... when it starts raining.

I think it refers to the future instead of the past, as in 'I will stop playing basketball when it starts raining', but I am not a teacher.

Three guys are walking down the street. Two walk into a bar. The third guy ducks.

Is it like telling a story using the present tenses?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, Matthew. And it is play on words.