Согласование времен

[penuel]

Dear colleques, please help me with the following:

 

1.She said that Pushkin wrote many fabulous novels. - can we use here past

simple because that is the fact known by everyone or it's better to use had

written?

 

2. My brother told me about the book you are writing/My brother told me about the book you were writing.- are both of them correct if we refer to the present in the frst sentence and to the past in the second one?

[Mark]

Dear colleques, please help me with the following:

 

1.She said that Pushkin wrote many fabulous novels. - can we use here past

simple because that is the fact known by everyone or it's better to use had

written?

 

2. My brother told me about the book you are writing/My brother told me about the book you were writing.- are both of them correct if we refer to the present in the frst sentence and to the past in the second one?

 

1.The rule goes like this: we mustn`t use sequence of tenses if the clause contains a fact or a general truth. As to the use of the past simple, you should bear in mind the following rule: there is no need to change past simple into past perfect if the exact time of the action is mentioned. e.g. He said, "I saw her in 2007" - He said that he saw her in 2007. But: He said,"I saw her then." changes into: He said he had seen her then.

2. Concerning the second example, it depends on whether or not the speaker knows when it was said. For example if it was said yesterday , one can be sure that the book is still being written, so we don`t have to change the tense. If it isn`t clear how much time has passed since it was said, the rule of sequence of tenses should be observed.

[natpetrovna]

This year I have been to London. Believe me, the main idea of using English is - to understand and to be understood. Don't think so much about sequence of tenses. We are not students of Oxford and don't study English as ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPECIALISTS.