Sequence of Tenses

Question

Martin asked Peter the following:

Where are you from?

Peter said the following:

I am from Greece.

Afterwards Martin told me the following:

Peer said he is from Greece.

My guess is it would be perfect to say the following:

Peter said he was from Greece.

One must consider the tense aspect of the sentence too.

In the given context, would you use is or was?

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

I would use 'is' as Martin is quoting Peter, who was speaking in the present tense. He is from Greece. If he 'was' from Greece, it could be taken to mean that he no longer lives there. Martin is reporting a conversation that happened in the past, but the fact the Peter lives in Greece, is still the present.

Someone else can probably explain this better than I can, sorry...

CalifJim · Answer

Sequence of tenses (strict):

Peter says he is from Greece.
Peter said he was from Greece. (same as previous but from the viewpoint of the past)

Peter says he was in Greece.
Peter said he had been in Greece. (same as previous but from the viewpoint of the past)

But less strictly:

Peter said he is from Greece. (for Peter said he was from Greece.)
Peter said he was in Greece. (for Peter said he had been in Greece.)

In fact, if the "said" statement comes immediately after the "says" statement, the less strict usage may be preferred, as in this type of exchange:

Peter: I'm from Greece.
John: Sorry, I didn't hear you.
Kevin: He said he's from Greece.

Another case is when the thing said is a generally accepted fact or the like. In such cases the sequence of tenses shown below is virtually obligatory.

The teacher reminded us that the angles of a triangle always add to 180 degrees.

Andrei · Answer

I thank both Nona and CalifJim for excellent comments.

An attempt · Answer

I wonder whether the choice of a tense here can be also used to express a semantic shade in the speaker’s attitude to what s/he reports, like in these:
-Sorry, what did you say?
-I said I love you. (I still do; I am ready to reassert the statement)

-Sorry, what did you say?
-I said I loved you. (I wonder how I happened to be dragged into saying such a thing; I must have been drunk or something)
In the second example, here is an estranged and cold verification of the fact of saying, as if from the outside, without being involved in what was said.
I confess I seem to have already seen the like examples somewhere on the Internet

Andrei · Answer

Peter told Martin the following:

I am going to America.

So Peter said Martin he was going to America.

In the above, it should strictly be, ''was going to America."

Peter said Martin he is going to America is incorrect.

What do you think?

CalifJim · Answer

It's told, not said.

That aside, they are both correct.

Andrei · Answer

What is wrong with Peter said Martin that .......

I can't fathom why it, strictly should, be Peter told Martin that ....

MrPedantic · Answer

1.
- What did you say? - I said I love you.
2.
- What did you say? - I said I loved you.

That's a very interesting distinction, Anattempt. It could also occur where
the original 'I love you' was said to achieve some end or other, and the
speaker is faintly irritated by the need to repeat it. Or perhaps a
spinach-on-teeth moment or vexing mannerism has intervened.

(I sense that after 'I said I loved you' the speaker looks away and
examines the girl behind the bar with renewed interest.)

MrP

MrPedantic · Answer

Hello Andrei

You have to 'say to' a person.

'I said to Paul...I said to Peter...etc.'

'Say to' + person = 'tell' + person:

'I told Paul...I told Peter...etc.'

MrP

Sequence of Tenses

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