Was vs is

Question

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas (1)is/(2)was. Could you tell me whether both of (1) and (2) are right? What is the difference between (1) and (2) in terms of nuance or meaning?

Philip · Accepted Answer

The past is used more often in this case.  The logic of that could be argued.

Grammarfreak · Answer

PhilipThe past is used more often in this case. The logic of that could be argued.

Philip,
I agree. The way I see it, not only more often, with the context of the passage, , "was " is the only correct verb from a semantic and tense perspective, because of the past tense " I didn't know what .....".

Lucas21c · Answer

Thank you for your answers.
By the way, 'what pancreas is' is just the fact that doesn't change even if there is some time gap between when the speaker was diagnosed with cancer and when he speaks about it.
So, if we should keep this logic in other sentences, like the following one, I think 'is' must be correct.

He was so stupid that he didn't know Whales belong to mammals, not fish.

Or, am I wrong about something here?
I'd like to get more of your opinions about it.
Thank you.

Laborious · Answer

lucas21cHe was so stupid that he didn't know Whales belong to mammals, not fish.

I would personally go with 'belonged' in that sentence. Although that's a fact that whales belong to mammals, not fish, you're telling (somebody) how things were in the past, you are speaking from a past point of view.

He was so stupid that he didn't know (at that time in the past) (that) whales belonged to mammals, not fish. You're just telling somebody now what he didn't know at some time in the past.

Grammarfreak · Answer

lucas21cThank you for your answers.By the way, 'what pancreas is' is just the fact that doesn't change even if there is some time gap between when the speaker was diagnosed with cancer and when he speaks about it.So, like the following one, if we should keep this logic in other sentences, I think 'is' must be correct.He was so stupid that he didn't know Whales belong to mammals, not fish.Or, am I wrong about something here?I'd like to get more of your opinions about it.Thank you.

lucas21cHe was so stupid that he didn't know Whales are belong to mammals, not fish. ( Or, whales belong to the Cetacea Order)

This is my viewing angle. Yes I agree. In this context, whether past or present, the whale fact remains. However, at the time of the diagnosis, if one didn't know he had pancreas cancer (which was the past fact ) and he survived the cancer battle two years later, he can say, "I didn't know what pancreas was at the time and what vital functions it performs in our body " ( Performs - pertains to the healthy physioological property and functions of the pancreas. Also, if the wording were " I had no idea what pancreas's function is at that time...", it would have been logically and semantically correct as well. scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2536

whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, walruses, and many other marine animals are mammals, not fish.

Grammarfreak · Answer

LaboriousI would personally go with 'belonged' in that sentence.

Ummm....I won't, and "belong to mammal " is semantically incorrect.

Lucas21c · Answer

1. If so, should I say, "The police told us that every human being had a distinctive set of finger prints" instead of "The police told us that every human being has a distinctive set of finger prints?" However, "The teacher said that one plus one was two" somehow still sounds very awkward to me...

2. Could you tell me why "Whales belong to mammals, not fish" sounds strange? In my opinion, both of "Whales belong to mammals" and "Whales belong to the Cetacea Order" are acceptable and right.

Thank you for all of your help.
This question is seemingly easy, but actually quite difficult for me to understand.
I think I need to think about it more, depending on your answers and waiting more opinions.

Grammarfreak · Answer

lucas21cshoud I say, "The police told us that every human being had a distinctive set of finger prints"

No, that wil not be semantically sensible. Every human being has a set of finger prints which is unique to himself. "Had " will not make sense.

lucas21cCould you tell me why "Whales belong to mammals, not fish" sounds strange?

Whales are mammals, not "belong to mammals". Likewise we can say " Frogs are amphibian, and they belong to a class of vertebrate animals called Tetrapoda. I don't know any other way to explain to you "why". www.ypte.org.uk/animal/amphibians-frogs-toads-and-newts/42

There are three groups of amphibians in the world today - the frogs and toads, the ... Pool frogs belong to a group of frogs known as "green frogs", and both the ...

Fivejedjon · Answer

Note the wording f Philip's original response (my emphasis added): The past is used more often in this case. The logic of that could be argued.

The normal practice is to backshift if the situation referred to no longer holds true at the time of reporting, or was never true.

Idioticus: "The earth is flat."
Idioticus said (that) the earth was flat.

Eratosthenes: "The earth is round."
Eratosthenes said that the earth is/was round.

Fivejedjon · Answer

grammarfreakQuote lucas21cshoud I say, "The police told us that every human being had a distinctive set of finger prints"No, that wil not be semantically sensible. Every human being has a set of finger prints which is unique to himself. "Had " will not make sense.lucas21cCould

Had' is possible. Backshifting is always possible when the reporting verb is in a past test. We are reporting the situation at the time the original words were uttered. The fact that the situation still holds true at the time of the reporting is not a major concern of the reporter who does not backshift.

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