an agreement of tenses issue

[White Hat]

The original sentence is:

Ted said: "When I am a famous musician, people won't give a hoot about my knowledge of atoms and molecules."

I wonder which one is correct if we try to paraphrase the sentence above:

Ted said that when he was a famous musician, people wouldn't give a hoot...

or

Ted said that when he would be a famous musician, people wouldn't give a hoot...


Thank you very much.

 

[SoothingDave]

When he was.

 

[White Hat]

Thank you, Sir.

 

[Rover_KE]

In addition to SoothingDave's answer you can also say '...when he became a famous musician....'

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Rover:-D

 

[SoothingDave]

In addition to SoothingDave's answer you can also say '...when he became a famous musician....'

Please note that you don't need to send your thanks in a separate post. Just click the Like button when you get a reply you find helpful.

Rover:-D

"Becomes" I think. It's someone talking about his future plans.

 

[White Hat]

I thought about using "becomes", but then wouldn't that be violating the laws of agreement of tenses?

 

[5jj]

I thought about using "becomes", but then wouldn't that be violating the laws of agreement of tenses?

I'd use 'became'. If we are going to backshift one verb, won't, then it's better to backshift both.