Is the term "was now" correct English grammar? It sounds bad to me.?

Question

I was reading Warcraft the Sunwell Trilogy, a graphic novel by Richard A. Knaak. I noticed he uses the term "was now" pretty often and it always strikes me as strange when I read it. Shouldn't it be "was then" since it is past tense. After noticing this I searched online and found other works of his with the same phrase. And searching google for "was now" returns upwards of 22 million results so either it's not really wrong english or there are a lot of people making this same mistake.

Example passage from the book:
Not that they had any choice anymore. The Sunwell was now ours.

Answer 1

The usage you cite is absolutely correct. You are assuming that "now" can only mean "at the present time". That may be it's most common meaning, but not the only one.

The use in these sentences is listed in the following dictionary entries for "now":

"6 : at the time referred to "
http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=now

"4. At this point in the series of events; then: The ship was now listing to port."
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=now

Answer 2

Technically, it is a mixing of tenses. A correct alternative would be "The Sunwell had become ours." I think "was now" sounds more immediate, whereas the formality of "had become" draws attention to itself. A peculiar convention of English is that stories are told in the past tense, whereas other languages employ the present tense. A movie or play script in English is usually in present tense, and some writers have adopted present tense in narrative fiction writing. There is really no law stating you have to use one tense or another.

Edit: tonalc1 has got it right. Now is not a verb, so it has no tense.

Answer 3

I agree that it sounds a little off, but it's poetic :)

Actually, the term "now" doesn't have to mean NOW...according to a dictionary, it can also mean:
"At this point in the series of events; then...as in The ship was now listing to port."

I think it's a way of making the past events come to life.

In the same way that most people don't say, "I will no longer go to that store," I think it's just a fancy way of saying a simple thing.

so, it is correct grammar, because "now" is an adverb (answers the question: when?)

Answer 4

It is correct english grammar. The dictator had ruled the country for 40 years, it was now time for a democratic election. I'm guessing the trilogy makes a lot of references to a (long) prevailing situation for which the time is ripe for a change.

Answer 5

"Was now" is correct grammar.

Essentially you are using a past tense with a present implying adverb, but present implying doesn't mean anything. Coversely it's like saying "So, I am at the store, yesterday..." It's not wrong if you use it right, but you have to know what you are doing.

Answer 6

It depends where in the sentence you use the phrase. Subjective example: He and I are the same age. Objective example: They looked at him and me. In English, it is correct to put yourself, (I or me) last. Edit: only Jen O & the Alex just above me are correct.

Answer 7

This is correct grammar, although I see what you are talking about. "Now" is often used to refer to the exact period of time in which the writer is writing. However, it can be used in a more relativistic sense as in this example.

Answer 8

I'll agree it does sound a little funny, but it is just the same as saying "is now", which sounds okay (The Sunwell is now ours)- but now it is in past tense. Normally, we don't say "now" with a past tense, just because it does strike us as funny sounding, but it is not grammatically incorrect.

Answer 9

These sentences are speaking of what was in the past, not necessarly what is in the present. Story telling relates what was now(at that time).
...jj

Answer 10

That is a huge oxymoron. Was is past tense and now is present tense so it's like past present tense. Like I said oxymoron.