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Tostyle un Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Hello teachers, Is this correct

Hello teachers,

Is this correct English?

"I thought you knew I am a father."

"I thought you knew I was a father."

The second one is used when he is no a father anymore right?If wrong please explain.

Thank you.
  

Top answer

The second could have the same meaning as the first, unless it was clear from other context that you were no longer a father. We are referring to a past time when it was true that he "was" a father, but he could also still be a father in the present - the sentence does not exclude that possibility. To my ear, the second is more natural even though the first makes it clearer that you are still a father.

— Michael Chambers Teaching English

  • The second could have the same meaning as the first, unless it was clear from other context that you were no longer a father.
  • We are referring to a past time when it was true that he "was" a father, but he could also still be a father in the present - the sentence does not exclude that possibility.
  • To my ear, the second is more natural even though the first makes it clearer that you are still a father.
  • Kind regards, Michael
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31 Answers
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The second could have the same meaning as the first, unless it was clear from other context that you were no longer a father. We are referring to a past time when it was true that he "was" a father, but he could also still be a father in the present - the sentence does not exclude that possibility.

To my ear, the second is more natural even though the first makes it clearer that you ar
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Both are correct and can be used when the speaker is still a father. The backshifting of am to was is optional.

If the speaker wishes to suggest that he is a father no longer, then he'd use 'had been'.
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A similar tense question, Michael chambers.

"I was very interested in the language so people compare with me professional English teachers."

Should I use compared there even if she is still compared?i mean would that go right with the sentence?
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In this case, no. You have two ideas in this sentence, in independent clauses and you need to relate them precisely to each other to avoid ambiguity.

Though your sentence is grammatical, the context is unusual; this is because you have indicated a past (finished) interest in the language but an ongoing (present) comparison with teachers of the same language. To make this sound natural a
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tostyle un"I thought you knew I was a father."The second one is used when he is no a father anymore right?
No. Absolutely not. The second one is completely natural when he is still a father.
(But it's worth mentioning as an aside that once you are a father, you can never not be a father anymore.)

It is common practice to keep the content clause
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Could you please give me many more examples?
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tostyle un Could you please give me many more examples?
Many more? How many would you like? 50? 100? 500?

That will take some time.

Susan knew that Mary's birthday was coming up in a few days.
Sam thought that Laura was pregnant.
Fred knew that Ted had two brothers.
Tom believed that Betty wanted
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Ok so u say it is a grammatical phenomenon to use past tense words after thought, believed and all similar words but they mean the same in the present tense as well?I think if I understand this clearly my doubts will come to an end.

Your own example, "Tom believed that Betty wanted to buy a new refrigerator." In the same context could be this be also said "Tom believes..... Betty wants."
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Can I also say, "sam thought that Laura is pregnant."
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tostyle un Can I also say, "sam thought that Laura is pregnant."
Please wait for one question to be dealt with before posting another.
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