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Magic79 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Frued believe or believed
In reported speech, we have verbs like "say, said, thihk, thought, report, reported, believe, believed, etc."
And many times English language learners get confused when to use the present version and when the past. What makes things even more complicated is when the person reported is dead.
For example:
Frued (1900) (believes/believed) that our dreams are full of symbols.
Whcih tense would you use here and why? Would you use the present because his ideas are true today even though he is dead, or the past because he is dead and he is now something of the past because of his death.
I am aware of the student grammar books talking about reported speech, but there are many questions to be answered.
1. What tense would you use in a research paper quoting an author and a date, e.g. Frued (1900), or Chomsky (1969).
And many times English language learners get confused when to use the present version and when the past. What makes things even more complicated is when the person reported is dead.
For example:
Frued (1900) (believes/believed) that our dreams are full of symbols.
Whcih tense would you use here and why? Would you use the present because his ideas are true today even though he is dead, or the past because he is dead and he is now something of the past because of his death.
I am aware of the student grammar books talking about reported speech, but there are many questions to be answered.
1. What tense would you use in a research paper quoting an author and a date, e.g. Frued (1900), or Chomsky (1969).
Top answer
You can use either; just be consistent. Present tense makes the ideas more immediate, while past tense sets them more firmly into the historical context.
- You can use either; just be consistent.
- Present tense makes the ideas more immediate, while past tense sets them more firmly into the historical context.
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2 Answers
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You can use either; just be consistent. Present tense makes the ideas more immediate, while past tense sets them more firmly into the historical context.
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