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Lucas21c Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
The sequence of tenses
As far as I know, both of "He said he was a single" and "He said he is a single" are right and natural though the tense of the subordinate clause, "he is a single", is not agreed on the tense of the main clause, "He said'. (Of course, what each sentence means are different from each other due to their tenses. In case of the former, the speaker doesn't know whether he is still single or simply doesn't talk about his current marital status with the sentence. While, in case of the latter, the speaker explicitly states that he is still single) So, some questions like the followings arise:
1. If "He said he has been studying in the library since this morning" is right, could you tell me why "He said he had been studying in the library since this morning" is wrong? How about "He said he had been studying in the library since this morning when I met him in the cafeteria"?
2. If "I found that he was a generous man" and "I found that he had lost my fountain pen" are right, could you tell me why "I found that he is a generous man" and "I found that he has lost my fountain pen" wrong?
1. If "He said he has been studying in the library since this morning" is right, could you tell me why "He said he had been studying in the library since this morning" is wrong? How about "He said he had been studying in the library since this morning when I met him in the cafeteria"?
2. If "I found that he was a generous man" and "I found that he had lost my fountain pen" are right, could you tell me why "I found that he is a generous man" and "I found that he has lost my fountain pen" wrong?
Top answer
First, please note that we use single as an adjective, eg He is single , not He is a single. As far as I know, you are correct both of "He said he was a single" and "He said he is a single" are right and natural though the tense of the subordinate clause, "he is a single", is not agreed on the tense of the main clause, "He said'. (Of course, what each sentence means are different from each other due to their tenses.
- First, please note that we use single as an adjective, eg He is single , not He is a single.
- As far as I know, you are correct both of "He said he was a single" and "He said he is a single" are right and natural though the tense of the subordinate clause, "he is a single", is not agreed on the tense of the main clause, "He said'.
- (Of course, what each sentence means are different from each other due to their tenses.
- In case of the former, the speaker doesn't know whether he is still single or simply doesn't talk about his current marital status with the sentence.
- While, in case of the latter, the speaker explicitly states that he is still single) So, some questions like the followings arise: 1.
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1 Answers
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First, please note that we use single as an adjective, eg He is single, not He is a single.
As far as I know, you are correct
both of "He said he was a single" and "He said he is a single" are right and natural though the tense of the subordinate
As far as I know, you are correct
both of "He said he was a single" and "He said he is a single" are right and natural though the tense of the subordinate
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