My friend asks: What are you doing tomorrow. I say: Going to study. He says: I t

[B45]

My friend asks: What are you doing tomorrow.

I say: Going to study.

He says: I thought you will/would play basketball.

Are both will and would wrong here?

 

[bhaisahab]

No, "will" is wrong.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is 'will' wrong because the speaker no longer thinks so now?

Not a teacher.

 

[bhaisahab]

No. "I thought you will" is wrong in any context.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'I saw Peter yesterday. He thought you will play basketball tomorrow. Will you?'
I think the second 'will' is correct. How about the first one?
Not a teacher.

 

[bhaisahab]

No, the first one is wrong.

 

[emsr2d2]

"No, I thought you were going to play basketball tomorrow. Are you going to?"

 

[Matthew Wai]

It's a situation/condition that is still true; backshifting is not necessary.

The tense backshift is optional there.

Why is backshifting necessary/not optional in 'He thought you would play basketball tomorrow'? Could it be a difference between AmE and BrE?

 

[Raymott]

Why is backshifting necessary/not optional in 'He thought you would play basketball tomorrow'? Could it be a difference between AmE and BrE?

This quote-mining and re-presentation out of context is not useful, and at worst, completely confusing. No, it's not a regional difference. "I thought you will" is wrong, regardless of whether backshifting might be optional in some other context.

 

[Matthew Wai]

How about 'He said you will play basketball tomorrow'?

 

[bhaisahab]

No.

 

[Raymott]

How about 'He said you will play basketball tomorrow'?

Maybe. There might be some obscure context for it, and you might find it written or spoken somewhere.
We say, "He said you are/were going to play ..." or "He said you are/were playing ..." But this is more a case of using "going to" rather than "will". It's different.

 

[Matthew Wai]

There might be some obscure context for it...

It is the same as the context in my post#5.
'I saw Peter yesterday. He said you will play basketball tomorrow. Will you?'

On another forum, I had found examples of 'He said he will', which are considered correct there, so I asked the follow-up questions here.

 

[Raymott]

It is the same as the context in my post#5.
'I saw Peter yesterday. He said you will play basketball tomorrow. Will you?'

No, I've just said it wasn't. #5 has "I thought it will", which is never right. I've already explained that they are different constructions. If there is never a right context for "I thought it will", that can't be the same bizarre context which I admitted might exist for "He said you will."

On another forum, I had found examples of 'He said he will', which are considered correct there, so I asked the follow-up questions here.

I'm not going to start debating people who aren't here. If you have been convinced it is right, then you should give the arguments for it.

 

[Matthew Wai]

If you have been convinced it is right, then you should give the arguments for it.

'With said you can switch to the present point of view in the subordinate clause'── quoted from another forum (boldface in red is mine).
I think it is right because what was said refers to the future instead of the past.

Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

'With said you can switch to the present point of view in the subordinate clause'── quoted from another forum (boldface in red is mine).

The person on the site you quote says, "said works differently from thought and knew."
This is also what I've been saying.
There has been some confusion over changing the subject from "I" to "He", so we haven't had analogous sentences.
"He said he will" is possible. "He thought he will" is not.
Also, in speech, a quotation gets lost. "I thought, 'I will ...'" is correct, as is "He thought, "I/He will ..." are both possible.

 

[Matthew Wai]

"He said he will" is possible. "He thought he will" is not.

How about 'knew'? For example, 'He knew you will play basketball tomorrow'.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Matthew. please stop quoting me from older threads to current threads. I hardly ever know the context in which the quote occurred.

 

[Matthew Wai]

MikeNewYork, you can know the context simply by clicking on the 'View Post' icon after the member name in the quote box.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I expect you to honor my request. I want it to stop NOW!