which is correct?
1 He said that honesty is / was the best policy.

2 He said that the Earth goes/ went around the Sun.

Please tell me what the tense it should be. Thank you

Question

which is correct?
1 He said that honesty is / was the best policy.

2 He said that the Earth goes/ went around the Sun.

Please tell me what the tense it should be. Thank you

Answer

1.    Is

2.   Goes

Answer

Direct speech:
1. He said, "Honesty IS the best policy."
2. He said, "Earth GOES around the Sun."

Indirect speech:
1. He said THAT honesty WAS the best policy.
2. He said THAT Earth WENT around the Sun.

However, in day to day conversation, this is not really a concern.

Answer

Whether it is direct or indirect speech, the answer is "Is"  and "Goes".

It is because both sentences are about time-invariant facts.  
For such things, the sub-clause's verb stays in the present tense to signify perpetual truth.

Answer

1. He said, "Honesty is the best policy."
2. He said, "Earth goes around the Sun."

1.什麼是什麼用"is"，翻譯成中文就能理解了，你下定義的時候不會說什麼東西過去是什麼吧？
2.地球繞着太陽轉是一個常規形態，不是過去也不是現在繞着太陽，這種情況下用一般進行時 
能明白嗎？

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