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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
tense agreement - means or meant?
Which is correct: "I thought it meant something else" or "I thought it means something else"
Usually when we are talking about the meaning of a word, we are talking about a fact and would use the simple present (means), yet when it is preceded by "I thought..." it seems (to me) correct to use the past (meant), but I don't know why. If I am right and that is the correct form, could somebody please explain why the past is used in this case?
Usually when we are talking about the meaning of a word, we are talking about a fact and would use the simple present (means), yet when it is preceded by "I thought..." it seems (to me) correct to use the past (meant), but I don't know why. If I am right and that is the correct form, could somebody please explain why the past is used in this case?
Top answer
I agree that the tense of the subordinate verb is more natural here when it regresses to the past with the main verb. Some main verbs are more prone to this than others, I think.
- I agree that the tense of the subordinate verb is more natural here when it regresses to the past with the main verb.
- Some main verbs are more prone to this than others, I think.
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1 Answers
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I agree that the tense of the subordinate verb is more natural here when it regresses to the past with the main verb. Some main verbs are more prone to this than others, I think.
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