Timeline for Questions in indirect speech and verb tense change
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
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| Jan 18, 2013 at 21:37 | history | edited | Barrie England | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 18, 2013 at 20:58 | comment | added | Cerberus - Reinstate Monica | Fowler was just an example of the many grammarians that accept both tenses. I agree that confusion is undesirable, and that the past tense is nearly always fine; but I think saying "the past tense is probably more common, but the present tense is also used and acceptable" is simple enough for our OP to understand (he seems to be a smart guy anyway). See also his edit. Suggesting that the teacher is right and the present tense is wrong seems undesirable. | |
| Jan 18, 2013 at 20:46 | comment | added | Barrie England | @Cerberus. That may well be the case, but the OP is a foreign learner of English, and, at this stage, needs guidance on what is likely to cause the least complication. It will rarely be ungrammatical to change the present tense to the past tense in reported speech. Do you mean what Fowler says in the 'sequence of tenses' article? If so, it’s hardly conclusive. | |
| Jan 18, 2013 at 20:27 | comment | added | Cerberus - Reinstate Monica | That's not exactly true. The change is optional, and you will also see the present tense used. Cf Fowler's advice. | |
| Jan 18, 2013 at 20:05 | history | answered | Barrie England | CC BY-SA 3.0 |