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Laborious Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Reported speech

Hi dear teachers,

The following sentence has been taken form this site http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Backshift.htm and I have a few questions regarding the sentence, please.

The sentence was:

- She knew that we were meeting tomorrow.

What's bothering me here is the 'time word - tomorrow' with the 'were meeting'. Shouldn't there be 'the next day' or the 'following day' in place of 'tomorrow'?

If we say 'She knew that we were meeting tomorrow', doesn't it mean that the meeting has been cancelled and we are no longer meeting tomorrow.
Won't it be better if we just say 'She knew that we are meeting tomorrow' if the meeting is still in the future and we still intend to meet?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

If "tomorrow" is relative to now, then "She knew that we were meeting tomorrow" is acceptable even if it was not "tomorrow" at time being reported (the time when she knew). It does not imply that the meeting has been cancelled. However, if "tomorrow" is relative to the time being reported (the time when she knew), and has now passed, then something like "the next day" or "the following day" should be used.

— GPY

  • If "tomorrow" is relative to now, then "She knew that we were meeting tomorrow" is acceptable even if it was not "tomorrow" at time being reported (the time when she knew).
  • It does not imply that the meeting has been cancelled.
  • However, if "tomorrow" is relative to the time being reported (the time when she knew), and has now passed, then something like "the next day" or "the following day" should be used.
  • "She knows that we are meeting tomorrow" is also OK, of course.
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5 Answers
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If "tomorrow" is relative to now, then "She knew that we were meeting tomorrow" is acceptable even if it was not "tomorrow" at time being reported (the time when she knew). It does not imply that the meeting has been cancelled. However, if "tomorrow" is relative to the time being reported (the time when she knew), and has now passed, then something like "the next day" or "the following day" should
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Thank you very much, sir, for replying, it would take me some time to digest it though. Emotion: smile

So you mean that if tomorrow i
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LaboriousShe knew that we were meeting tomorrow.
Context:

I just talked to May on the phone. I asked her about our meeting tomorrow. We had agreed to meet last week. She said she had forgotten that and made another appointment and could not meet with me.

I am angry at May. I say to my friend: "May made another appointment for tomorrow when
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Thank you very much, Alpstars, for your really helpful explanation with the context.

May made anther appointment for tomorrow when she knew that we were meeting tomorrow!! Now I have to find another day to meet with her.

Probably, that's what I was driving at in my first post.

Thank you once again.
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LaboriousSo you mean that if tomorrow is still tomorrow at the time of speaking/reporting, we could say "She knew that we were meeting tomorrow", but not "She knew that we were meeting the next day/the following day".
Right.
LaboriousHowever, we could certainly say "She knew that we were meeting the next day or the following day" i
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