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  1. John said that he would be 15 by next year. [ Past, Past] [Usage of would - Indirect speech]
  2. John says that he will be 15 by next year.
    [ Present, Future] [Usage of will - will indicates future tense]
  3. John says that he would be 15 by next year.
    [ Present, Future] [Usage of would – would indicates future tense ]

Is there any different between 2 and 3?

Does the first one conveys any different meaning than 2 or 3?

MrNano
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2 Answers2

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Rule of thumb: always make sure your tenses agree: the past with the past; the present with the present.

Thus, "said" should always go with "would," and "says" with "will."

Ricky
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  • No. "Galileo maintained that the earth goes around the sun" (past, present). "Tom says he would be happy to give you a ride if his car is running. (present, past)" – deadrat Nov 21 '15 at 09:23
  • @Ever the apple polisher. Okay, the present (in Galileo's case) is used because that's what we believe still. To this day. As we speak. It's a frequently occurring exception. Your second example isn't in fact "present, past, present"; it's a subjunctive something or other, which is not predicated on ... uh ....chronology. I've got to memorize all those terms if only to spite you. – Ricky Nov 21 '15 at 09:43
  • I'd suggest learning the difference between tense and temporality, but it's only a suggestion. – deadrat Nov 21 '15 at 10:04
  • @deadrat: The former is characterized by strain; the latter is fleeting and/or transient. What's to learn. Don't talk in riddles: it scares some people. – Ricky Nov 21 '15 at 10:10
  • Tense is a reference to a verb form; temporality is the time period referenced by the tense. The past tense of will is would, but would doesn't always refer to past time. Still scared? – deadrat Nov 21 '15 at 10:47
  • @deadrat: Isn't that exactly what I said earlier? You're fantastically hard to please. – Ricky Nov 21 '15 at 11:10
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Sentence 1: Reported speech, with reporting verb in past tense. Therefore, 'will' in reported clause becomes 'would' (other modal verbs change in the same way too: e.g. shall -> should, can -> could, etc.)

Sentence 2: Reported speech, with reporting verb in the present tense used in direct speech. Fine.

Sentence 3: Ungrammatical as reported speech, because of the clash of tense/aspect between the two clauses, but capable of interpretation. You would have to interpret the modal in the subordinate clause as part of a conditional structure, with the if-clause implicit or suppressed: e.g. 'John says that he would be 15 next year, if only he hadn't been told he has only weeks to live.'

JemButters
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