I also think the kid's mother is/was/were ...

[Silverobama]

- What would you say if you saw a kid urinating on a downtown street with his mother standing next to him?
- Disgusting! I also think the kid's mother is mentally deficient.

I was told that both “is” and “was” and “were” are grammatical here in the italic sentence. I still can’t understand why “was” and “were” are good. I know “is” refers to something permanent so “is” is good.

Please enlighten me.

 

[emsr2d2]

- What would you say if you saw a kid urinating on a downtown street with his mother standing next to him?
- Disgusting! I also think the kid's mother is mentally deficient.

This is the second time you've tried to associate people toileting in the street with having mental health issues. Please note that it's totally unacceptable to do so. Mental health problems are a serious medical area and should not be taken lightly. Unless you're a medical professional, you should never opine that someone has such problems.

Also, bear in mind that terms such as "mentally deficient" are very negative. It's one of several words that are very much frowned up (in the UK, at least) because they're so pejorative. A couple of other examples are "handicapped" and "retarded".

I was told that both “is” and “was” and “were” are grammatical here in the italic sentence. I still can’t understand why “was” and “were” are good. I know “is” refers to something permanent so “is” is good.

Who told you that "is", "was" and "were" could all be used in that exact sentence in that exact dialogue?

 

[Silverobama]

Who told you that both "is" and "was" could be used in that exact sentence in that exact dialogue?

I didn't write this conversation but it was proofread by a late forum member. I wrote it down after she corrected and it was in around 2015. Recently, I've been going over notes in my notebooks and I read this dialog yesterday. I think the italic sentence isn't grammatical because the reply should be in subjunctive mood too. So I wonder if the italic sentence is grammatical.

- What would you say if you saw a kid urinating on a downtown street with his mother standing next to him?
- Disgusting! I also think the kid's mother is mentally deficient.

This is the second time you've tried to associate people toileting in the street with having mental health issues. Please note that it's totally unacceptable to do so.

Thanks a lot for telling me this.

 

[emsr2d2]

With the addition of a word, the reply could use "was":

I would also think the kid's mother was irresponsible.