The tense?
I heard a high school student say that ( ).
1. she had difficulty understanding what her Spanish teacher said in class.
2. She has difficulty understanding what her Spanish teacher says in class.
Does my choice of 1. And 2. convey different meanings?
Top answer
If she still has difficulty (or it is reasonable to assume that she does) then you can use either (choice to backshift or not backshift), but #2, as you'd expect, makes the problem seem a bit more current or immediate. g. you are reporting something you heard a long time ago) then you should use #1.
- If she still has difficulty (or it is reasonable to assume that she does) then you can use either (choice to backshift or not backshift), but #2, as you'd expect, makes the problem seem a bit more current or immediate.
- g.
- you are reporting something you heard a long time ago) then you should use #1.
- A second issue to be aware of is that "said" could refer to one utterance, while "says" refers to the teacher's speech generally.
- However, with no context to particularly suggest one utterance, I think "said" here would normally be assumed to refer to speech generally.
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If she still has difficulty (or it is reasonable to assume that she does) then you can use either (choice to backshift or not backshift), but #2, as you'd expect, makes the problem seem a bit more current or immediate.
If she no longer has difficulty (e.g. you are reporting something you heard a long time ago) then you should use #1.
A second issue to be aware of is that "said" cou
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