The one thing I forgot to mention was/is..

[nq:1]In this sentence: "I had a long discussion with Martha last night about her relationship with John. The one thing I forgot to mention was/is.." should I use "was" or "is"? Thanks.[/nq]
I would use "is" although I have seen the other.
Munglish is more about usage than rules, and it
is not logical.
Jai Maharaj

[nq:1]In this sentence: "I had a long discussion with Martha last night about her relationship with John. The one thing I forgot to mention was/is.." should I use "was" or "is"?[/nq]
I would tend to use "was", because the conversation and the forgetting happened in the past.
The one thing I forgot to mention was that I had
seen him the day before.
I might use "is" if it was some so

[nq:1]In this sentence: "I had a long discussion with Martha last night about her relationship with John. The one thing I forgot to mention was/is.." should I use "was" or "is"?[/nq]
If you mean to be reporting on the conversation you had, using "was" would be unambiguous. You would be talking about what you neglected to tell Martha. Using "is" can create a certain ambiguity.
For example,

You can use either.
But here it seems that when I was talking to Martha I forgot to mention soemthing to her. Since the conversation was in the past, "was" would be more accurate.
On the other hand, if the context shows that I have forgotten to mention something, in the recounting of all this, to the person I'm now talking to, then "is" would be fine. That strikes me as the less likely sce

[nq:1]In this sentence: "I had a long discussion with Martha last night about her relationship with John. The one thing I forgot to mention was/is.." should I use "was" or "is"? Thanks.[/nq]
Should be "was".
This was my question for my English teacher years ago. In fact, it took him sometime to answer my question. finally, he said to me "The whole sentence's tense should be synchronize."

[nq:1]If you mean to be reporting on the conversation you had, using "was" would be unambiguous. You would be talking about what you neglected to tell Martha. Using "is" can create a certain ambiguity.[/nq]
Thanks. I have a follow-up question which you have sort of answered.

In reported speech, the reported part is backshifted even though it may still be true; e.g.:
"I told Martha

[nq:1]In reported speech, the reported part is backshifted even though it may still be true; e.g.: "I told Martha last ... is no speech to report as such: "I forgot to tell Martha last night that John is/was of Danish descent."[/nq]
Well, you are reporting the past conversation, even though you are not quoting speech, so what was not said should carry the same tense as what was said, just for