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Olive bee Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

This/that

Could there be any particular reasons to change from "this" to "that" because of Sequence of Tenses ? Eg:

He said he liked this/ that book now.

  

Top answer

" No. The choice between "this" and "that" is dictated by relative proximity, not time.

  • " No.
  • The choice between "this" and "that" is dictated by relative proximity, not time.
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4 Answers
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I guess you mean as opposed to "He says he likes this/that book now." No. The choice between "this" and "that" is dictated by relative proximity, not time.

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"that" is more distant than "this"; the distance may be in time or space (or some abstract quality, e.g. familiarity).

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If you mean reported speech, I think so, yes.

He says he will buy this book. He said he would buy that book, but now he says he wants this one.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/reported-speech/reporte

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Anon is right. The choice of proximal "this" or distal "that" depends on the physical location of the book, not the temporal location of the utterance.

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