shamrez.ahmed
New member
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2010
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
Hi
I have seen some previous posts regarding this issue on this forum but it's still not clear to me whether we can use past and present tense in the same sentence. For example, he told me that he will come. I believe it should be "he told me that he would come". Thing to notice here is that that future time that was promised hasn't come yet. I am still waiting for him to come and visit me. I asked the same question to a volunteer ESL teacher at a local library, and her response was "it's ok to mix the tenses" but my years of grammar study (text book study) still pulls me back and forces me to believe that the only correct sentence can be "he told me that he would come". Please can someone shed some light and provide examples as to when we can mix the tenses in the same sentence if that is allowed at all.
Other examples where I am confused are as following:
1. James left and told me before leaving that in future client (will/would) contact me directly.
2. Client said they (want/wanted) me to work on their new project. -> Is it possible that both "want" and "wanted" are correct in different contexts?
Thank you very much,
Regards
Sham
I have seen some previous posts regarding this issue on this forum but it's still not clear to me whether we can use past and present tense in the same sentence. For example, he told me that he will come. I believe it should be "he told me that he would come". Thing to notice here is that that future time that was promised hasn't come yet. I am still waiting for him to come and visit me. I asked the same question to a volunteer ESL teacher at a local library, and her response was "it's ok to mix the tenses" but my years of grammar study (text book study) still pulls me back and forces me to believe that the only correct sentence can be "he told me that he would come". Please can someone shed some light and provide examples as to when we can mix the tenses in the same sentence if that is allowed at all.
Other examples where I am confused are as following:
1. James left and told me before leaving that in future client (will/would) contact me directly.
2. Client said they (want/wanted) me to work on their new project. -> Is it possible that both "want" and "wanted" are correct in different contexts?
Thank you very much,
Regards
Sham
Last edited: