"I thought you said you won't/wouldn't be able to make the event."
Hi all
I've got a question about tenses. If the event in question has not happened yet, should I use "won't" or "wouldn't" here? I ask this because somehow I have the impression that sometimes if you are mentioning something that happened in the past (i.e. I thought you said...), you use the past even with things that have not yet happened. For instance, "I thought you wanted to come along." I formed the impression in the past that you wanted to come along to an event that has not yet happened.
"I thought you said you won't/wouldn't be able to make the event."
Thank you.
Best wishes
PBF
Top answer
" If the 'making the event' is still in the future at the time of reporting the thought, won't is possible. Backshifting to wouldn't is also possible. If the speaker believes that the person address will not now make the event, wouldn't is more likely.
- " If the 'making the event' is still in the future at the time of reporting the thought, won't is possible.
- Backshifting to wouldn't is also possible.
- If the speaker believes that the person address will not now make the event, wouldn't is more likely.
- If the 'making the event' was before the time of reporting the thought, wouldn't is obligatory.
- If in doubt, backshift.
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Peaceblinkfriend"I thought you said you won't/wouldn't be able to make the event."
If the 'making the event' is still in the future at the time of reporting the thought, won't is possible. Backshifting to wouldn't is also possible. If the speaker believes that the person address will not now make the event, wouldn't is more likely.
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