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Liza
How to say it right? She told me that she is a teacher or that she was a teacher?
Should we make past tense in subordinate clause?
Oct 1, 2016 9:03 PM
Answers · 2
3
Either is correct, depending on what you mean. It is not so much an issue of using a subordinate clause as whether you are reporting speech. She told me that she is a teacher clearly means that she is a teacher now. However, it is common in English in reported speech to change the tense to the past. So, if she said, "I am a teacher," it is correct to say, "She told me that she was a teacher." And if she said, "I was a teacher," you could say, "She said that she had been a teacher."
October 1, 2016
The past tense "was a teacher" can be interpreted in two different ways:
- she was a teacher in the past, but is no longer one
- the person was told in the past that this person is/was a teacher
Technically speaking, the tense of "is/was a teacher" should match whether or not she is a teacher now or not. But I agree with the other poster that it is common in this type of phrase to change the tense of the verb "is/was" in this clause to match the tense of "told", which would be past tense.
October 2, 2016
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Liza
Language Skills
English, Russian, Ukrainian
Learning Language
English
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