"was" or "is"
Hello everyone. I have a question regarding the last part of the following passage:
Scientific knowledge is based on observations of the natural world. But observing the natural world is neither as simple nor as solitary an activity as it might sound. Take the moon, for instance. When you look up at the sky on a clear night, what do you see? You see the moon and the stars. But what do you actually observe? There are a lot of small bright lights and then a larger whitish circular object. If you had never learned any science, what would you think this white object was?
I don't see any problem with it, but one of my friends says that the last sentence should be "If you had never learned any science, what would you think this white object is?" How does his sentence sound to your ear? is it natural, too?
Top answer
"Is" would be wrong here. Often you can go either way, but not this time. The object "was" being observed.
- "Is" would be wrong here.
- Often you can go either way, but not this time.
- The object "was" being observed.
- Anyway, logically, we don't even know whether that object still exists, not knowing that it was the moon.
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"Is" would be wrong here. Often you can go either way, but not this time. The object "was" being observed. Anyway, logically, we don't even know whether that object still exists, not knowing that it was the moon.
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