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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Sequence of tenses and relative clauses

Is the rule of the sequence of tenses required for the relative clauses? For example, should I say 1 or 2 for the book that I am reading these days and 3 or 4 for the book that I take a look at when I need?

1) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I was reading. I will go on reading it when she returns it back.

2) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I am reading. I will go on reading it when she returns it back.

3) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I took a look at when I needed. I don't know what to do without it if I need it.

4) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I take a look at when I need. I don't know what to do without it if I need it.
  

Top answer

1) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I was reading. ) I will go on reading it (continue reading it) when she returns it back . (gives it back) 4) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I take a look at when I need to .

— AlpheccaStars

  • 1) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I was reading.
  • ) I will go on reading it (continue reading it) when she returns it back .
  • (gives it back) 4) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I take a look at when I need to .
  • (You refer to this book occasionally.
  • You are not looking at it now.
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18 Answers
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1) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I was reading. (You are not reading it now, since your friend has it.)
I will go on reading it (continue reading it) when she returns it back. (gives it back)

4) Yesterday I gave my friend the book that I take a look at when I need to. (You refer to this book occasionally. You are not looking at it
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Thank you for the reply. So I think we can say that the rule of the sequence of tenses is not required for the relative clauses. Should I say 1 or 2, for example, if I tell that to another friend of mine?

1) I told you that yesterday I had given my friend the book that I take look at when I need to.

2) I told you that yesterday I had given my friend the book that I took a look at
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Anonymous1) I told you that yesterday I had given my friend the book that I take look at when I need to.
1) I told you that yesterday I gave my friend a book that I take look at when I need to. (I still want to use this book as a reference.)

2) I told you that yesterday I gave my friend a book that I took a look at when I n
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Thanks for the reply. I see about the tenses of the relative clauses. But I am confused about the tense of the clause in my example, which has been modified.

Is the following equality correct? I told you "yesterday I gave my friend a book" = I told you that yesterday I had given my friend a book.

When I say "I told you that I gave my friend a book", shouldn't the sentence be unde
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AnonymousIs the following equally correct?
You can use the past perfect, but most native speakers would use the simple past.
Anonymous- I told you "I give my friend a book".
No, that is not natural.

I told you, "I give my friend a book for his birthday every year." (Habitual action)

I told you, "I w
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Thanks a lot for the reply. I see that both "gave" and "had given" can be used in my example ("I told you that yesterday I gave my friend a book" or "I told you that yesterday I had given my friend a book". I think we can say "I told you that I give my friend a book for his birthday every year" or "I told you that I gave my friend a book for his birthday every year" as well.
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But, in this case, I think when you say "I told you that I gave my friend a book for his birthday every year", the meaning may be confused, it may a habitual action or a past action (I give my friend a book for his birthday every year or I gave my friend a book for his birthday every year). The meaning can be understood by context.
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Although "the simple past tense" is possible in the example and the meaning can be understood by "yesterday" (I told you that yesterday I gave my friend a book), I think it is better to use "the past perfect tense" just because of the rule of the sequence of tenses (I told you that yesterday I had given my friend a book). If "yesterday" doesn't exist in the simple past tense form of the example,
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Anonymous, the meaning may be confusing and can just be understood by context
The point is that we rarely deal with isolated sentences in real life; there is almost always some context known to speaker and listener. There is no confusion for the parties in a conversation.
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AnonymousI think it is better to use "the past perfect tense" just because of the rule of the sequence of tenses
OK, if that's what you think. You can use the past perfect; it's not wrong.

Back-shifting in reported speech (the rule you refer to) is not ironclad.
It is not a "strong rule" like "I am" versus "I is" or "I ain't."
Sometimes we
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