My friend said" Your child is beautiful". Can I report this statement as 'My friend told me that my child is beautiful' or '.... my child was beautiful' for the sake of grammer rule ?
1 Answer
"Your child is beautiful" means your child is currently beautiful.
My child was beautiful is past tense, however it means that your child used to be beautiful.
You can say "My friend told me that my child is beautiful", because your child still is beautiful, but your friend already said so.