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Perfect Stranger Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Another eternal problem - reported speech and the past tense

Howdy,


Hope everything is peachy in your lives folks. Would you please care to spend a minute or two and answer my next question? What do you think about these two sentences? Are they acceptable? In my opinion the verb forms should be changed as I have marked in orange.

  • You told me you don't/didn't have time.
  • You didn't tell me if you like/ed those songs I sent yesterday.
  

Top answer

Perfect Stranger In my opinion the verb forms should be changed as I have marked in orange. Excellent opinion. It's mine, too.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Perfect Stranger In my opinion the verb forms should be changed as I have marked in orange.
  • Excellent opinion.
  • It's mine, too.
  • In reported speech, the tense is moved back in time (eg.
  • from present to past) as compared with the direct quote.
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15 Answers
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Perfect StrangerIn my opinion the verb forms should be changed as I have marked in orange.
Excellent opinion. It's mine, too.
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AlpheccaStarsExcellent opinion. It's mine, too. In reported speech, the tense is moved back in time (eg. from present to past) as compared with the direct quote.
and yet... sometimes it does feel awkward to move the tense back in time... for example:
  • You told me you love/ed me.


it
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Perfect Strangerand yet... sometimes it does feel awkward to move the tense back in time... for example:
You told me you love/ed me.
It sounds perfectly natural to me. You told me (a month ago) you loved me ( at that time).
Perhaps, things change. The love expires.
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you see, that's the question!

imagine two buddies talking about their girlfriends... one of them says:

She's told me she ___

a) loves me
b) loved me

According to what grammar purists say only b) would be correct... and the past tense of loved doesn't refer to the past but to the present...
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Perfect StrangerAccording to what grammar purists say only b) would be correct... and the past tense of loved doesn't refer to the past but to the present...
Sometimes, I think purists can cause havoc.
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treacherous English grammar...

every single grammar book says that reported statements should be written with the tense-shift...

anyway, how about this sentence:

You didn't tell me if you like the song/if you liked the song.
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Perfect Strangerevery single grammar book says that reported statements should be written with the tense-shift
Not Swan's Practical English Usage, for instance, which only says that the verbs are "usually" backshifted.
Perfect StrangerYou didn't tell me if you like the song/if you liked the song.
Fine and commo
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Mister MicawberFine and common both ways if the speaker is looking for a present opinion.
just a sec... let me get this clear... MM, are you saying there's absolutely no difference in meaning between:
  1. You didn't tell me if you like the song.
  2. You didn't tell me if you liked the song.
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Perfect Strangerlet me get this clear... MM, are you saying there's absolutely no difference in meaning between:You didn't tell me if you like the song.You didn't tell me if you liked the song.
Shall I repeat myself? (Maybe that's why you have an eternal problem with this.) If the speaker is looking for a present opinion— no.
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Well, your previous answer wasn't a clear-cut one.

I see no difference between those two sentences. If I'm asking a person whether she likes the song or not it's natural that the answer must be related to the present. And yet, according to some grammar books this one would be considered correct, even though there's a past tense here.

You didn't tell me if you liked the son
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