Timeline for I received an email saying documents are /were
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2015 at 19:23 | comment | added | iamRR | Suppose John tells me today : "I am hungry." 2 days later I happen to report his word to my friend. I say : "John said that he is hungry." At the time of reporting I know John is no longer but even if I use 'is', will that be in any case correct or wrong ? | |
| Jun 23, 2015 at 19:06 | comment | added | iamRR | Thanks for your reply. So if someone uses the present tense in reported speech knowing the fact that the words are no longer true then will that be acceptable or not ? | |
| Jun 23, 2015 at 17:16 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | "Two plus two equals five" is not grammatically incorrect. But it's incorrect for another reason. Similarly for 'The documents are being processed.' if the processing was completed 4 weeks ago (but note that what constitutes 'processing' could be argued to include getting the results to you). | |
| Jun 23, 2015 at 10:49 | comment | added | iamRR | I did not get what you intend to mean. Let's assume that this situation happened a month back and I know it for a fact that processing has already been done then under this condition, is the usage of 'are' possible ? | |
| Jun 23, 2015 at 7:58 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | If you think 'Colorless green ideas sleep furiously' is correct (and grammatically it is), yes. If you want to convey meaningful and accurate information, no. | |
| Jun 23, 2015 at 2:38 | comment | added | iamRR | Is it correct to use 'are' if the processing has been done ? | |
| Jun 22, 2015 at 23:50 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | Grammaticality is not the same as acceptability. 'Correct' needs defining in your question. But if the processing has stopped at the time of reporting, backshifting is required for a factually correct communication. | |
| Jun 22, 2015 at 22:44 | comment | added | iamRR | You mean to say that usage of 'are' is grammatical even the words are no longer true. Is that what you saying ? I just wanted to ask if what was said is no longer true then can we use 'are' in the above sentence ? | |
| Jun 22, 2015 at 21:45 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | It's grammatical, but factually incorrect. Backshift. | |
| Jun 22, 2015 at 19:53 | comment | added | iamRR | No probably not because I received an email a month back. So can we use 'are' knowing the fact that words are no longer true ? | |
| Jun 22, 2015 at 19:21 | history | answered | Edwin Ashworth | CC BY-SA 3.0 |