"hat" and "ist"

"Im Mund hat alles gejuckt und meine Zunge ist angeschwollen" (I had an itchy sensation in my mouth and my tongue was swelling)

Can someone please help me out with getting a grip with sentences like these?
I can't seem to understand the "hat"in sentences like these ones. Also the "ist" as well. Shouldn't there be a "hatte"there instead meaning "had" and not "has"?
Also, wouldn't it make more sense for the "ist" to be "war" being in the past?




 

Hi Grant,

"jucken" is a verb. Most verbs build the past tense with haben,  "jucken" is one of them.  In English, you probably wouldn't use "itch" as a verb like in German. Literally translated the sentence  says "My mouth has itched".  There is an equivalent to "jucken' that you can use with "sein" and that is the adjective "kratzig".   "Im Mund war alles kratzig"= "It was itchy in my mouth".

"Meine Zunge ist angeschwollen" and "meine Zunge war angeschwollen" are both correct. The second version with "war" puts emphasis on the tongue no longer being swollen. 

Regards

Paul

Hey Paul thanks for that. It's going to take me a while to digest you're explanation right now but thanks for your answer buddy