I thought a spider is/was an insect

0I think it still holds. It expresses doubt over a fact.02br
02br
00For example, I thought the sun was a star.02br
02br
00IMHO0-

0Sorry for starting it again, but I am still not quite sure in this case. I was taught that when talking about universal truths or general knowledge, the present tense should be used in indirect speech. 02br
00By the way, I suppose you are just making up an example quickly. I think you know the sun IS in fact a star. 0-

0 01blockquote

01cite10Pter12cite12br
10I was taught that when talking about universal truths or general knowledge, the present tense should be used in indirect speech. 12blockquote

10I am with you on this. 0-

0Hi Pter, Don't be sorry. I could be wrong. As you can see an expert has just disagreed with me 05000 I'm always wrong and your English is much better than mine. I was just giving my two cent opinion and probably useless.02br
02br
00Yes. I do know for a fact that the sun is one of billions of stairs in the universe which is what my example needed to show doubt.02br

0 What if there're two alternative facts pretending to a general truth?02br
02br
00 I thought the aether didn't exist02br
00 I belived the aether existed0-

0 01blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10(Edit: This is probably less related and I believe you already know it. In reported speech, you can say facts in the past tense. My teachertold me that the sun was a star.)12blockquote

10 No, I didn't know that. We are all here to learn and I don't think my English is much better than yours

0I spent half an hour looking for the reported speech usage I told you about and just02br
00when I almost gave up I came across this thread (not the one I've learned from but shoud02br
00give you some idea)02br
01a05000 02a02br
02br
00hope thi

0If you really want to sound English, 01b00use the past02b00. Use the present only if you 01b00really02b00 want to emphasize the fact is still being valid. 0-

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10As you can see an expert has just disagreed with me10 12blockquote

10Hi New2Grammar,02br
02br
00I hope I am not that person you are referring to as expert. Before I get in further trouble with the real02br
02br
00experts, I will make this brief comment. E

0I agree with you that even experts make mistakes. A lot of theories still hold because no one has proven them wrong so far (or at least, they are still mostly useful though inaccurate under certain circumstances) but doesn't mean they are correct.In fact most things are approximations, a term very common in research communities (or in layman's term, there's always a gray area). To me, an expert