Tense problems

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Anonymous

#537395 Sun, 06 Jul 08 03:14 PM

Hi all,

I'm unsure about the highlighted words in the following. Are they ok or should I change them?

Thanks.

"If I were to tell you what I think (thought?) of you, I'd be sacked from my job"

"I told her that I am (was?) happy in my job"

"I said to her that I do (did?) not know where Bob had gone to"

Thanks again...

Anonymous

Tenses

Cool Breeze

#537450 Sun, 06 Jul 08 05:42 PM

In the first sentence the use of a present tense (think) emphasises what your opinion is now. The past tense (thought) refers to the past; your opinion may have changed by now.

"I told her that I am (was?) happy in my job" Both are right. The sequence of tenses would require was but if you are still happy, the present tense is also possible.

"I said to her that I do (did?) not know where Bob had gone to" I would use did in your sentence because of the that clause. If you had a quotation within quotation marks, even do would be correct in some contexts. The last preposition should be omitted.

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Senior Member (3,008)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Prepositions, Tenses, Clauses, Present Tenses, Past Tenses, Quotation Marks

Mr Wordy

#537461 Sun, 06 Jul 08 06:33 PM

If I were to tell you what I think (thought?) of you, I'd be sacked from my job

Cool Breeze
In the first sentence the use of a present tense (think) emphasises what your opinion is now. The past tense (thought) refers to the past; your opinion may have changed by now.

Hmmm.

To me, in this type of construction, "thought" does not have to refer to the past. It can do, but, for me it can (and very often does) mean that you think it right now.

Addition: If I wanted to indicate what I had thought in the past, I would say "If I were to tell you what I used to think about you..."

Mr Wordy

Joined on Tue, May 27 2008

Regular Member (960)

Native British English speaker

Constructions, Tenses, Present Tenses, Past Tenses

Cool Breeze

#537476 Sun, 06 Jul 08 08:03 PM

Mr Wordy
To me, in this type of construction, "thought" does not have to refer to the past. It can do, but, for me it can (and very often does) mean that you think it right now.

Addition: If I wanted to indicate what I had thought in the past, I would say "If I were to tell you what I used to think about you..."

I agree. I forgot to mention that. English is inexact in this respect and I was just trying to concentrate on the possible difference in meaning. "... what I used to think about you is of course also possible" but nothing grammatical requires it. As everybody knows, it is very common.

Cool Breeze

Constructions, Tenses