Simple present or simple past tense after “said”?











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  1. They said they were good friends.


  2. They said they are good friends.





Which one is correct? For me 1. sounds like I'm implying they're not good friends now, but this isn't what I want to say. And 2. is a bit weird because "said" happened in the past and when they "said" something, shouldn't it be about the past (the present for them)?






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  • You are right to think .2. weird. The right sequence of tenses is .1. "They said they were..." If you need to remove ambiguity say, "They said they were still good friends."
    – Hugh
    1 hour ago

















up vote
0
down vote

favorite














  1. They said they were good friends.


  2. They said they are good friends.





Which one is correct? For me 1. sounds like I'm implying they're not good friends now, but this isn't what I want to say. And 2. is a bit weird because "said" happened in the past and when they "said" something, shouldn't it be about the past (the present for them)?






tenses clauses







share|improve this question






















  • You are right to think .2. weird. The right sequence of tenses is .1. "They said they were..." If you need to remove ambiguity say, "They said they were still good friends."
    – Hugh
    1 hour ago















up vote
0
down vote

favorite









up vote
0
down vote

favorite













  1. They said they were good friends.


  2. They said they are good friends.





Which one is correct? For me 1. sounds like I'm implying they're not good friends now, but this isn't what I want to say. And 2. is a bit weird because "said" happened in the past and when they "said" something, shouldn't it be about the past (the present for them)?






tenses clauses







share|improve this question















  1. They said they were good friends.


  2. They said they are good friends.





Which one is correct? For me 1. sounds like I'm implying they're not good friends now, but this isn't what I want to say. And 2. is a bit weird because "said" happened in the past and when they "said" something, shouldn't it be about the past (the present for them)?






tenses clauses




tenses clauses






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 2 hours ago









Lai Yu-Hsuan

1092




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  • You are right to think .2. weird. The right sequence of tenses is .1. "They said they were..." If you need to remove ambiguity say, "They said they were still good friends."
    – Hugh
    1 hour ago




















  • You are right to think .2. weird. The right sequence of tenses is .1. "They said they were..." If you need to remove ambiguity say, "They said they were still good friends."
    – Hugh
    1 hour ago


















You are right to think .2. weird. The right sequence of tenses is .1. "They said they were..." If you need to remove ambiguity say, "They said they were still good friends."
– Hugh
1 hour ago






You are right to think .2. weird. The right sequence of tenses is .1. "They said they were..." If you need to remove ambiguity say, "They said they were still good friends."
– Hugh
1 hour ago

















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