"I thought..."

Question

When one realises opinion or idea is wrong, or what he holds true is wrong, people say "I thought...." I wonder what tense follows "I thought". I often use past tenses. But I am not sure of it. i'd like to hear your opinions. thanks

Yunus · Accepted Answer

I thought, we could be together. Or I thought we would live together.

I'm not sure but sometimes i hear like these sentences.

Loojka · Answer

I always use past, but I think you can use present in cases like "I thought you have a brother" (you still have a brother), but I'm not sure about this and haven't heard it very often and it sounds rather awkward to me.

Chariot · Answer

Thank you. I have the same confusion. I wonder when present tenses are used.

Kooyeen · Answer

ChariotThank you. I have the same confusion. I wonder when present tenses are used.

Hi,
there are several threads about this.
Don't use present tenses there. After some verbs, or in certain contexts, past tenses sound much more natural, and present tenses actually sound wrong. You'd better use past tenses after "thought" and "knew", for example.

I thought you were a native speaker! So, you are a learner instead, right?
I thought you are a native speaker! So, you are a learner instead, right? <--- avoid this, sounds wrong

I knew you were a learner too!
I knew you are a learner too! <--- avoid this, sounds wrong to me

Obviously, you can always say "I know you are a learner too".

CalifJim · Answer

After "mental" verbs in the past tense use the past tense or the past of a modal verb (e.g., would, might, could)

I [thought / believed / knew] (that)
you [were / would be / might be] late.

CJ

Loojka · Answer

CalifJimAfter "mental" verbs in the past tense use the past tense or the past of a modal verb (e.g., would, might, could)

I [thought / believed / knew] (that)
you [were / would be / might be] late.

CJ

As I have said, I would also use the past tense here, but I wasn't sure about the possibility of using the present tense. And then I came across Mister Micawber's post in another thread:

Mister MicawberI don't understand your question. These are right:

Did you know he likes me?
Did you know he is/has been/will be telling me something about you?
Did you know he told me something about you?

Can you use present or not?

CalifJim · Answer

Can you use present or not?

After the question form Did you know ...? I would accept present tense. The reason is that I take Did you know ... ? to mean something in present time: Are you aware that ...? or Have you heard the news that ...? To my ear it's a use of the past to represent the present, as in I wanted to talk to you soon about that.

Did you know that she has a brother?
= Are you aware that she has a brother?

Did you know that Henry is going to New York Tuesday?
= Have you heard the news that Henry is going to New York Tuesday?

CJ

Loojka · Answer

Ok, I got it <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> Thanx!

"I thought..."

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