Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
No change in tense for a second conditional sentence
Hi. I think the past tense in the underlined dependent in the following hypothetical sentence is incorrect and the present tense is correct. Am I correct? If yes, could it be said that any fact that is still valid (that is, true) at the time of the utterance of a second conditional sentence can be stated in the present tense? In the example sentence below, I think the fact that is still valid is that she still uses the name. Thank you in advance for your help.
If he were her friend, he would know what her name is.
If he were her friend, he would know what her name is.
Top answer
If he were her friend, he would know what her name is/was . The context makes the choice of tense nearly irrelevant. You can use either 'is' or 'was' without changing the meaning.
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If he were her friend, he would know what her name is/was.
The context makes the choice of tense nearly irrelevant. You can use either 'is' or 'was' without changing the meaning. No one will think she changed her name if you use 'was'.
CJ
The context makes the choice of tense nearly irrelevant. You can use either 'is' or 'was' without changing the meaning. No one will think she changed her name if you use 'was'.
CJ
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