I wouldn't say they were rich (= in my opinion they are not rich).

[kadioguy]

I wouldn't say they were rich (= in my opinion they are not rich).
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/say_1
---
I think that "were" is used because it is in the subjunctive mood. However, I would say that "are" is also okay/possible here. What do you think?

[Update: added ChatGPT's opinion]

 

[probus]

It's not a subjunctive. We call this phenomenon backshifting. You can read a thorough discussion of it here:

Backshift in Reported Speech | Learn English

We sometimes change the tense of the reported clause by moving it back one tense. For example, present simple goes back one tense to past simple. We call this change 'backshift'.

www.englishclub.com

 

[emsr2d2]

We generally discourage learners from taking advice from AI (such as ChatGPT). Some other forums actually summarily delete any posts containing such content. We haven't reached that point (yet).

 

[Piscean]

It's not a subjunctive.

Quite. If it were, we'd say I wouldn't say I were rich.

 

[jutfrank]

We generally discourage learners from taking advice from AI (such as ChatGPT).

Do we?

 

[kadioguy]

If a situation is still true, backshift is optional.

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/reported-speech-backshift.php

I wouldn't say they were rich (= in my opinion they are not rich).
---
According to the bold part, the situation is still true, so backshift is optional in this case. Is this right?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, you can use 'are' instead of 'were'.

 

[kadioguy]

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/reported-speech-backshift.php

I noticed that the last one uses "says" while the other underlined ones are all "said". Why is this? It seems to make little sense to me that the reported speech uses "says" while the direct speech is "said".

What do you think?

 

[Piscean]

It's silly.

I also don't understand why the writer gives backshifted alternatives forms and not for others that are possible. However, we are straying too far from the original question.

 

[kadioguy]

Backshift in Reported Speech | Learn English

We sometimes change the tense of the reported clause by moving it back one tense. For example, present simple goes back one tense to past simple. We call this change 'backshift'.

www.englishclub.com

Yeah, but a friend told me that backshifting here [in the original sentence] is because of the sequence of tenses [i.e., wouldn't so were], not because of the reported speech.

 

[Piscean]

Did your friend tell you why backshifting is not obligatory in that sentence?

 

[kadioguy]

Did your friend tell you why backshifting is not obligatory in that sentence?

Well, no, but I had learned that from all of you here.

 

[Piscean]

You didn't learn it from jutfrank (post 7) or me.

 

[kadioguy]

You didn't learn it from jutfrank (post 7) or me.

Well, I asked that in post #6, and jutfrank answered me in post #7, so I think I learned it here.

 

[Piscean]

jutfrank wroteL

Yes, you can use 'are' instead of 'were'.

That means that it is possible not to backshift