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Farooq Abbasi Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

indirect and reported speech

In this sentence: "I did'nt know she had a son" Can I say "I did'nt know she 'has' a son" instead because he is teenager now. Or both are correct??
  

Top answer

"I didn't know she had a son" is better. This is for agreement with "didn't know", and is nothing to do with how old the son is. A son is still a son at any age.

— GPY

  • "I didn't know she had a son" is better.
  • This is for agreement with "didn't know", and is nothing to do with how old the son is.
  • A son is still a son at any age.
  • Note the position of the apostrophe in didn't .
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3 Answers
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"I didn't know she had a son" is better. This is for agreement with "didn't know", and is nothing to do with how old the son is. A son is still a son at any age.

Note the position of the apostrophe in didn't.
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Yes 'didn't' goes in agreement with 'had'. But will it be okay if i use 'has' instead. Will i be understood perfectly with 'has'??

(And yes i wrote 'teenager' not because of age or anything but to make sure that no one misunderstands it as in 'having a son etc')
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Farooq AbbasiWill i be understood perfectly with 'has'?
Yes, it is perfectly intelligible with "has".

Note that the word "I" must be capitalised wherever it appears.
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