[Grammar] He asked me what is/was sth, what sth is/was

[uktous]

Hi,

Question:
Which sentence is correct?


Sentence1:
He asked me what is mortgage.
Sentence2:
He asked me what mortgage is.
Sentence3:
He asked me what was mortgage.
Sentence4:
He asked me what mortgage was.

Thanks

 

[euncu]

He asked me what a mortgage was.

 

[emsr2d2]

He asked me what a mortgage was.

He asked me what a mortgage is - also correct. The salient point of both our answers being that it needs to be "a mortgage".

 

[uktous]

He asked me what a mortgage is - also correct. The salient point of both our answers being that it needs to be "a mortgage".

Hi,

If I am telling a story, should I say

" He asked me what a mortgage was"
or
" He asked me what a mortgage is"
??

Thanks

 

[Raymott]

Hi,

If I am telling a story, should I say

" He asked me what a mortgage was"
or
" He asked me what a mortgage is"
??

Thanks

I'd say that the form with "was" is much more common.

In a story, I'd use "was" because it's likely that there is less of a relation between the world of the story and present reality than there is in the relation between past reality and present reality.

 

[uktous]

I'd say that the form with "was" is much more common.

In a story, I'd use "was" because it's likely that there is less of a relation between the world of the story and present reality than there is in the relation between past reality and present reality.

Hi,

If I talk about a past event (reality), shoud I use "is or was"?

Eg:

Mary: What did John ask you?
Me: He asked me what a mortgage is/was.

Thanks

 

[chellamuthu]

Hi,

If I talk about a past event (reality), should I use "is or was"?

Eg:

Mary: What did John ask you?
Me: He asked me what a mortgage is/was.

Thanks

'He asked me what a mortgage was.' would be more appropriate.
Thank you.

 

[Raymott]

Hi,

If I talk about a past event (reality), shoud I use "is or was"?

Eg:

Mary: What did John ask you?
Me: He asked me what a mortgage is/was.

Thanks

My opinion is that you should always use "was".
I can't think of any context in which "is" would be better. It would save learners a lot of trouble if they learned how to backshift for reported speech, and forgot about "is" altogether. You don't need it.