Use of the present when it is actually the past

In sentences like this, "c'est" is usually invariable in tense. It's what's known in English as a "cleft sentence", i.e. "it is/was X that ....[subordinate clause]." In English (at least British English) we use the same tense for the "it is" part as for the subordinate clause. I think you can also do that in French, but in modern French it's more normal for "c'est" to stay in the present tense.

Also, in French one frequently makes use of "historic present tense", i.e., you use present tense to relate an event of the past. This is a stylistic element which aims to draw the reader in and get him close to the action. Here is an example of this in English:

"It is a bright summer day in 1947. My father, a fat, funny man with beautiful eyes and a subversive wit, is trying to decide which of his eight children he will take with him to the county fair."

Hi Graham,

"it was with tears in my eyes that I gave her a standing ovation" this is describing a past situation   --  "was" "gave" 

Sorry, but I don't understand your concern?

I haven't carried out the exercise, only read the text; so there may be an error (in the French) that I am missing?

Jim

Hi Jim. Yes, I can see that the English version is in the past, but the French sentence "c'est avec des larmes" is in the present. Why? That is my question.

Thanks Alan and Chris. I understand both your answers although I'm still a little perplexed as to why this is the only clause in the present, while the entire remainder of this exercise's text is in the past. I suppose it is just one of those grammatical peculiarities that I am going to have to accept!

If it's the only phrase in the present, then Chris's explanation does not apply to this particular text. My explanation only applies to cleft sentences using "c'est", so that's why it only affects that one case.

Your original question used "Est-ce que", which is effectively just an inversion of a cleft sentence. The same peculiarity is present there. Even if you're talking about an event in the past, you use "Est-ce que" in the present.

That's a great point Alan! I had never considered "est-ce que" like that, but I can totally see that it is the case. I suppose it's because we don't directly translate "est-ce que" - it's just a question marker. But if we were to do so in a question that actually related to the past, then yes, it would clearly demonstrate the same grammatical structure (e.g. "Est-ce que tu as lu le livre?" - In English this could be translated entirely into the past - "Did you read the book?".) The whole concept is quite far removed from English, in my mind, so I need to think of it as a French structure, not as an English equivalent. Thank you for all your help!

(P.s. I realise my example sentence could also be translated using the present perfect in English, but I think this just about retains the point concerning contrasting aspects existing in French but not in the English equivalent)