SuperESL Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Past tense - Reported Speech
Hi,
I came across this sentence in an academic text:
"Chesterson employed the category 'family' as his organizational framework for a natural history of Europe in part because his theory held that all premodern cultures rely more heavily on kinship organizations than modern ones do."
I am a bit curious about the choice of tense at the underlined places in the above passage.
(1) Employed: since the author is discussing Chesterson's thinking in the context of other past scholars of Europe, I understand the choice of the past tense.
(2) Held: since the author is citing what Chesterson's theory held to be true, the choice of the past tense is also understandable.
(3) Rely: what I am less sure about is the use of the present tense here. Since we are discussing a past theory - one that has potentially been discredited - shouldn't the past tense be employed here, especially after 'held'? Would using the past tense here be outright wrong or change the meaning of the sentence in any meaningful way?
(4)Do: I have the same concern here as I do in (3).
Thank you.
I came across this sentence in an academic text:
"Chesterson employed the category 'family' as his organizational framework for a natural history of Europe in part because his theory held that all premodern cultures rely more heavily on kinship organizations than modern ones do."
I am a bit curious about the choice of tense at the underlined places in the above passage.
(1) Employed: since the author is discussing Chesterson's thinking in the context of other past scholars of Europe, I understand the choice of the past tense.
(2) Held: since the author is citing what Chesterson's theory held to be true, the choice of the past tense is also understandable.
(3) Rely: what I am less sure about is the use of the present tense here. Since we are discussing a past theory - one that has potentially been discredited - shouldn't the past tense be employed here, especially after 'held'? Would using the past tense here be outright wrong or change the meaning of the sentence in any meaningful way?
(4)Do: I have the same concern here as I do in (3).
Thank you.
Top answer
The verb needs to be 'relied'.
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Hello,
Just to clarify: you are suggesting that the author simply made a grammatical mistake? Also, must "did" instead of "do" be used? Thank you.
Just to clarify: you are suggesting that the author simply made a grammatical mistake? Also, must "did" instead of "do" be used? Thank you.
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SuperESLheld that all premodern cultures rely more heavily on kinship organizations than modern ones do."It seems to me that if you want a contrast between the past (premodern) and the present (modern), you have to use those tenses. Hence, relied and do. I'd say it's an authorial or editorial oversight.
CJ
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