Past tense sentences

Question

Which is correct and why?

I didn't know that children is India love to study.

or

I didn't know that children in India loved to study.

I didn't know there aren't enough schools in Bangledesh.

or

I didn't know there weren't enough schools in Bangledesh.

I didn't know Tokyo is the capital of Japan.

or

I didn't know Tokyo was the capital of Japan.

Someone told me that, as in the last example, the first sentence is correct because Tokyo being the capital is a fact. They also said that in the first two examples, where it is more opinion than fact, the tenses in the sentence had to match up. So the whole sentence needs to be written in past tense.

Does anyone if this is true and which sentences are grammatically correct?

Thanks for your help.

Miriam · Accepted Answer

Hello, Tanya

Welcome to the forums.

All of your sentences are correct.

In the case of "Tokyo", also both options are correct, even if Tokyo still is the capital city of Japan.

Here's a similar case in which most people will use the past tense for a present situation:
Suppose you're at work. It's 5 pm, so everyone is leaving. You're working extra hours and when you leave, at 6 pm, you find that one of your workmates is still at the office too. You look surprised because you thought everyone but you had left already. So, you can say, for example:
"I didn't know you were still here"
even when the person is there right now, at the moment you're speaking.

Of course, though, you have to take the context into account. In the following situation, only the past tense makes sense:
You are talking with a friend about education in Bangladesh. Your friend tells you:
"There weren't enough schools in Bangladesh in the 1970s." (I'm making this up, I really don't know anything about schools in Bangladesh)
If you didn't know that, you can't use the simple present to express it. You will probably say something like:
"I didn't know there weren't enough schools in Bangladesh (then)."

I hope it helps.

Miriam

Andrei · Answer

Miriam,

Is the following correct?

I didn't know that children is India love to study.

Miriam · Answer

Hi, Andrei

No, that's not correct.
"I didn't know that children in India love to study" is correct.
Most probably, it was only a "typo" Tanya made.

Past tense sentences

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