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I looked at these two threads giving different opinions

  1. that-is-was-great-which-one-should-i-use
  2. it-is-was-crazy-that-he-did-not

The first thread says we use present tense to comment on the news about what someone did, rather than what someone said.

However, the second thread says we use present tense to talk about the idea that something that happened in the past remains true now. So, I think it is a comment on what someone did.

So what's the difference between them and can I use present tense to comment past events?

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  • Please check your second paragraph. You have: what someone did twice. Do you mean: rather than what someone said?
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 28 at 14:42
  • They are not really different opinions. (1) is about what you feel now on hearing the news of something that happened in the past, (2) is about what you felt when it happened, which may be the way you still feel about it.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 28 at 15:19
  • @KateBunting Thank you. However if we use the present to show how we feel about it right now, can I say "yesterday's party is crazy"? That sounds very odds because the party is finished.
    – Zelin
    Commented Nov 24 at 3:31
  • @Zelin - No, we don't use the present tense in contexts like that. We can use it to express our opinion of a past situation - "It is good that this thing happened", "It is crazy that he did that" and so on. See Astralbee's answer.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 24 at 9:26

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Both the answers you link to seem sound in their reasoning, given the context of each. It comes down to whether you are referring to the past event, or the present situation.

When people hear about something that occurred in the past and say "that is great" it could be viewed either as a shortening of "that is great news" (thereby the comment is on the hearing of the news, rather than the event), or perhaps a comment on the current situation that results from the event. For example, if someone passed their exams, that is great because they can now have a qualification.

We would say something "was great" if our comment is also based in the past. For example, if you were referring to news received in the past such as "our son got his exam results yesterday and he did well, which was great news".

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