Had or have

Question

Which one is correct:I did not know that we had a assignment for tomorrow.I did not know that we have a assignment for tomorrow.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

Both are possible.

Anonymous · Answer

I see. They mean the same and convey the same message though, right?

Is one of them preferred and more common?

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, could you please comment on my last post.

Fivejedjon · Answer

In practical terms they both convey the same message. The one with past-tense 'had' is probably more common.

By the way, I omitted to point out one slip; it should be an assignment.

Anonymous · Answer

Great, thank you. That was very helpful.

Just curious if I were to use the first example (the common one) and add by saying 'that is or was due tomorrow', would it be correct to use either 'is or was', or is only 'was' possible?

I did not know we had an assignment that was due tomorrow.
I did not know we had an assignment that is due tomorrow.

Using was 'is' seems not consistent with the tenses, but is it possible or wrong?

Fivejedjon · Answer

There are several points here.

1. When the situation reported is still valid at the time of reporting, backshifting is possible, but not essential:

"We have an assignment for tomorrow."
I didn't know we have an assignment for tomorrow.
I didn't know we had an assignment for tomorrow.

2. In this particular utterance, however, it is possible that the original words were:

"We had an assignment for tomorrow." (= We were given an assignment that is due to be handed in tomorrow"

This can be reported as:

I didn't know we had an assignment for tomorrow.
I didn't know we had had an assignment for tomorrow.
3. Your new sentence can be originally, depending on how the speaker views the situations:

a) "We have an assignment that is due tomorrow."
b) "We had an assignment that is due tomorrow."
c) "We had an assignment that was due tomorrow."

In (a), the speaker is thinking of the assignment that they have at the moment of speaking and the fact that it is still due at that moment.
In (b), the speaker is thinking of the assignment having been given in the past, and the fact that it is still due at the moment of speaking.
In (c), the speaker is thinking of the assignment and the date of its being due as having been given in the past.

If we try to report those three sentences, ywe come up with wide range of possibilities. When we speak, the tenses we use depend very much on how we view situations at the moment of speaking. There are often far more possibilities than most explanations of reported speech can give.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation.

I understand that all three examples ultimately lead to the same message, as you have said they practically convey the same message, as there are many minor details in trying to explain the differences. Is that correct?

Also, matching would always be correct when in doubt and is the more common, which you pointed out. Have I understood correctly?

Thanks again.

Fivejedjon · Answer

You have understood everything correctly.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks again. One last question I would like to share with you.

The assignment was due yesterday:
1. I did not know we had an assignment that was due yesterday.

2. I did not know we have an assignment that is due yesterday.
3. I did not know we have an assignment that was due yesterday.

The first sentence sounds normal because the assignment was due in the past.
I am not sure if it would be possible to say the other two because we are using the present 'have' with combinations of 'yesterday with was or is'. Would you please tell me if they are possible or wrong or possible but meaningless. They sound meaningless to me.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Only #1 is natural.

#2 is not possible. We cannot have an assignment that is (present) due yesterday (past)

#3 is dubious. I suppose the speaker could just about think that s/he still has the (now overdue) assignment, but that is rather stretching things.

Had or have

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