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Abil Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Say and said

Some 18,000 security personnel have thrown a cordon around the meeting venue in Cha-am, some 200km (125 miles) south of Bangkok, say reports.

Will the sentence be grammatically wrong if I replace "say" with its past form "said"?
  

Top answer

Hi, Some 18,000 security personnel have thrown a cordon around the meeting venue in Cha-am, some 200km (125 miles) south of Bangkok, say reports. Will the sentence be grammatically wrong if I replace "say" with its past form "said"? 'Said' would suggest that reports do not say that at the present time, ie they no longer say that.

— Clive

  • Hi, Some 18,000 security personnel have thrown a cordon around the meeting venue in Cha-am, some 200km (125 miles) south of Bangkok, say reports.
  • Will the sentence be grammatically wrong if I replace "say" with its past form "said"?
  • 'Said' would suggest that reports do not say that at the present time, ie they no longer say that.
  • In addition, 'have thrown' refers to the past up until the present, and 'said' does not fit well with that tense.
  • Clive
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2 Answers
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Hi,

Some 18,000 security personnel have thrown a cordon around the meeting venue in Cha-am, some 200km (125 miles) south of Bangkok, say reports.

Will the sentence be grammatically wrong if I replace "say" with its past form "said"?

'Said' would suggest that reports do not say that at the present time, ie they no longer say that.


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