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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Reported speech
Hi!
We went to a restaurant and ordered "Ling ling". I asked my friend, a Chinese boy, what "ling ling" means / meant.
Is means wrong here??
We went to a restaurant and ordered "Ling ling". I asked my friend, a Chinese boy, what "ling ling" means / meant.
Is means wrong here??
Top answer
Hi Anon A native speaker of English might use either "means" or "meant" in your particualr sentence. e. the meaning of "ling ling" is currently under discussion).
- Hi Anon A native speaker of English might use either "means" or "meant" in your particualr sentence.
- e.
- the meaning of "ling ling" is currently under discussion).
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2 Answers
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Hi Anon
A native speaker of English might use either "means" or "meant" in your particualr sentence. I'd say "means" would be especially likely if someone else had just wondered about the meaning of the word (i.e. the meaning of "ling ling" is currently under discussion).
A native speaker of English might use either "means" or "meant" in your particualr sentence. I'd say "means" would be especially likely if someone else had just wondered about the meaning of the word (i.e. the meaning of "ling ling" is currently under discussion).
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Dear friend,
it is not. If fact, it is the preferred option. The second sentence features indirect speech, so did it mean is impossible. If you wonder about the choice between present and past verb forms, it is correct to say means, because the meaning of 'Ling Ling' is something of a general truth that is unlikely to change, so the definition applies equally to the past as
it is not. If fact, it is the preferred option. The second sentence features indirect speech, so did it mean is impossible. If you wonder about the choice between present and past verb forms, it is correct to say means, because the meaning of 'Ling Ling' is something of a general truth that is unlikely to change, so the definition applies equally to the past as
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