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Munchun2004 Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Need correction
Could you tell me which one of the following sentences is correct?
a) I didn't say you can go now.
b) I didn't say you could go now.
I often hear a be spoken instead of b. But I wonder why, because sentence a is not grammatically correct with the usage of present tense 'you can go now' after the verb 'didn't'. Should we write sentence a as follow?
a modified) I didn't say "you can go now".
Or should we keep sentence a intact as it is correct? :-s
a) I didn't say you can go now.
b) I didn't say you could go now.
I often hear a be spoken instead of b. But I wonder why, because sentence a is not grammatically correct with the usage of present tense 'you can go now' after the verb 'didn't'. Should we write sentence a as follow?
a modified) I didn't say "you can go now".
Or should we keep sentence a intact as it is correct? :-s
Top answer
The textbook version should be "I didn't say you could go now", but in ordinary everyday conversation you may hear either one. This is not a sentence you would encounter in formal writing - in either form. The technically correct version of a) is: I didn't say, "You can go now".
- The textbook version should be "I didn't say you could go now", but in ordinary everyday conversation you may hear either one.
- This is not a sentence you would encounter in formal writing - in either form.
- The technically correct version of a) is: I didn't say, "You can go now".
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2 Answers
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The textbook version should be "I didn't say you could go now", but in ordinary everyday conversation you may hear either one. This is not a sentence you would encounter in formal writing - in either form. The technically correct version of a) is:
I didn't say, "You can go now".
I didn't say, "You can go now".
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