I thought .....past tense?

[thomas615]

I thought he lived in Scotland
or
I thought he lives in Scotland

When I use "I thought" do I always use past tense in the sentence. For example the above sentence..if he still lives in Scotland.

I often hear people saying "I thought..." using the present tense

 

[Richard1]

Hi,
You can use any of:

I thought he lived in Scotland
I think he lived in Scotland
I thought he lives in Scotland
I think he lives in Scotland

There are two verbs here, thinking and living.
The subtle difference between the last two is that in the first the implication is that perhaps he no longer does live in Scotland, whereas in the last one there's less uncertainty.

Regards