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Davidrock65 Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

the present tense

0Dear teachers02br
02br
00Last night I watched an American reality show called "Straight, gay or taken," and I heard the girl on the show say,02br
02br
00"Oh my god! I didn't know you 01b00were02b00 gay. Did you know he 01b00was02b00 gay?" 02br
02br
00My question is, shouldn't it be 02br
02br
00"Oh my god! I didn't know you 01b00are02b00 gay. Did you know he i01b00s02b00 gay?" 02br
02br
00I was taught by my American friends that if it's a fact, I should us 01i00the present tense02i00. 02br
02br
00I'm getting confused here02br
02br
00Thanks for help!!0-
  

Top answer

0 Many people think that if the assertion/statement IS STILL valid, you may use the present. 02br 02br 00 However, the past ("was") is the norm after the past ("didn't"). com for "didn't know he is"0-

— Marius Hancu

  • 0 Many people think that if the assertion/statement IS STILL valid, you may use the present.
  • 02br 02br 00 However, the past ("was") is the norm after the past ("didn't").
  • com for "didn't know he is"0-
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12 Answers
0
0 Many people think that if the assertion/statement IS STILL valid, you may use the present. 02br
02br
00 However, the past ("was") is the norm after the past ("didn't"). See at the New York Times: 02br
02br
00 123 from nytimes.com for "didn't know he was"02br
00 3 from nytimes.com for "didn't know he is"0-
0
0
0I agree with MM on "01i00However, the past ("was") is the norm after the past ("didn't"). 02i00"02br
02br
00This find this tricky too because there isn't a rule that say if it is a fact, it must always be in present tense.02br
02br
00My professor 00told00 me the earth is spherical in shape. => It is correct to use present
0
0
0 I didn't know you WERE here. (We use 'were' even thought the person referred to is here.) 0-
0
0
0I thought you WEREn't around. (the person is here)02br
02br
00I think, generally, thought is also followed by past tense especially when thoughts turn out be wrong like in this case0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10New2grammar12cite10I thought you WEREn't around. (the person is here)12br
12br
10I think, generally, thought is also followed by past tense especially when thoughts turn out be wrong like in this case12br
12br
12blockquote
10If the first verb is in the past tense, the follow
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Marius Hancu12cite10Many people think that if the assertion/statement IS STILL valid, you may use the present. 12br
12br
10 However, the past ("was") is the norm after the past ("didn't"). See at the New York Times: 12br
12br
10 123 from nytimes.com for "didn't know he was"12br

0
0
0I found out he's working overtime later today. => Is this a sentence on reported speech like what Yoong Liat has mentioned?02br
02br
00(Earlier today) : I find out he's working overtime later today02br
02br
00Now, I report it as 'I found out he's working overtime later today'. Equivalently, could I say 'I found out he was working overtime later today'?
0
0
0 01blockquote
00I was taught by my American friends that if it's a fact, I should use 11i10the present tense12i10.12blockquote
10This is not exactly true. You are never required to use the present tense in this situation.02br
02br
01u00General rule: Backshifting is always correct but never required.02u
0
0
0 Thanks for answering my question02br
00But I'm wondering if I say,"I didn't know you were gay. Did you know he was gay?," doesn't it lead people to think that he USED TO BE gay, but now he probably becomes straight? 0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
00doesn't it lead people to think that he USED TO BE gay12blockquote
10No. Absolutely not. You would need to say "used to be" explicitly to get that meaning across.02br
02br
00 CJ0-
0

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