Object clause

Question

A colleague told me "I want to study Medicine, and I would do that".

When I repeat this information to another person, should I say "He told me he wanted to study Medicine" or "He told me he wants to study Mecidine"?

I believe only one sentence of the two is grammarly correct.

Can anyone kindly explain to me. Which one is correct and why?

Tons of thanks for your help.

Cheers.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousI believe only one sentence of the two is ~~grammarly~~ grammatically correct.

Both are correct. You can use either one, and they both have the same meaning. I would use the one with the present tense in a situation where I wanted to give the impression that I was just repeating what was said as a way of passing that information along to someone who wanted to know. This form is especially frequent when the amount of time is quite short between hearing it said and repeating it.

Monday:

A: I want to study medicine.

Wednesday:
B: I saw you talking to A a couple of days ago. Has he decided what he wants to study?
C: Yes. He told me he wants to study medicine.

C could have said He told me he wanted to study medicine. It means the same thing, but the event of telling is made a little more remote. This form, with the past, is the most neutral form, and the form you should use if in doubt, because it is always correct to match the past tense of tell (told) with another past tense in the following clause.

CJ

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