They said that it was/is a stolen phone so he'd/he'll have to...

[Ashraful Haque]

Someone I know bought a used phone online and after a couple of days he got a phone call from the police. I was talking about this incident and I said:
1) "They said that it was a stolen phone so he'd have to take it to the police station."

I wonder if the following sentence can be said as well:

2) "They said that it is a stolen phone so he'll have to take it to the police station."

Are both forms possible or is it better to stick to 1?

 

[emsr2d2]

It depends on whether he has already taken it to the police station by the time you talk about the incident. If he still has the phone, you could use "it is/he'll". If he's already taken it to the police station, use "it was/he'd".

 

[Ashraful Haque]

It depends on whether he has already taken it to the police station by the time you talk about the incident. If he still has the phone, you could use "it is/he'll". If he's already taken it to the police station, use "it was/he'd".

He didn't take it to the police station. In another post someone told me that I'ts better to keep the entire sentence in the past tense since I'm talking about what happened in the past.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Where is that post?

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/277084-I-realized-he-d-if-I-don-t-didn-t

This is the post I was talking about. And there's one more post in another page about this and they said the same thing.

I know my context is different. From what I understand I should've used the future tense since he still has the phone.

Another sentence:
"He said I'll get rejected if I don't register by the end of this week"
All this time I though it's correct to say "He said I'd get rejected if I didn't register by the end of this week" even if I'm saying it before the end of the week.

 

[GoesStation]

Another sentence:
"He said I'll get rejected if I don't register by the end of this week"
All this time I thought [STRIKE]it's[/STRIKE] it was correct to say "He said I'd get rejected if I didn't register by the end of this week" even if I'm saying it before the end of the week.

Both sentences are correct and natural.

 

[tedmc]

It depends on whether he has already taken it to the police station by the time you talk about the incident. If he still has the phone, you could use "it is/he'll". If he's already taken it to the police station, use "it was/he'd".

If he still has the phone, can't you say "he would"?

 

[Ashraful Haque]

It is possible to use past tenses there.

Both sentences are correct and natural.

:-( Why?

1) Why is past tense correct here even though the week isn't over yet?
"He said I'd get rejected if I didn't register by the end of this week" even if I'm saying it before the end of the week.

2) Why isn't past tense correct here then?
"They said that it is a stolen phone so he'll have to take it to the police station."

 

[emsr2d2]

Why isn't past tense correct here then?
"They said that it is a stolen phone so he'll have to take it to the police station."

I told you in post #2 that it's possible to use both "it is/he'll" and "it was/he'd" in that sentence.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

When the verb introducing the reported speech is in a past tense, then backshifting of the verbs in the indirect speech is always possible.

I told you in post #2 that it's possible to use both "it is/he'll" and "it was/he'd" in that sentence.

This is what I understand from what you kind people wrote.
1) "He said I'll get rejected if I don't register by the end of this week."- I can say it only if the week isn't over but not after the week.

2) "He said I'd get rejected if I didn't register by the end of this week." - I can say it either before or after the week. If I say it after the week is over I'm just talking about an incident in the past. But if I say it before the week is over I'm just talking about what happened/what he said when the conversation took place.

My original sentences:
3) "They said that it was a stolen phone so he'd have to take it to the police station."- This can be said either before or after taking the phone to the police station. If I say it before taking it to the police station I'm just talking about what happened/what he said on the phone. And if I say it after taking is to the police station I'm talking about a past incident.

4) "They said that it is a stolen phone so he'll have to take it to the police station."- This can only be said if he still has the phone/hasn't taken it to the police station yet.

Please let me know if I'm mistaken. I keep coming across this problem often.

 

[GoesStation]

This is what I understand from what you kind people wrote.
1) "He said I'll get rejected if I don't register by the end of this week."- I can say [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] this only if the week isn't over but not after the week. Correct.

2)"He said I'd get rejected if I didn't register by the end of this week." - I can say [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] this either before or after the week. Wrong. It says "this week", which means "the week during which I'm speaking; the current week," regardless of whether it's back-shifted.

See above.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

See above.

So it's correct to say both during the the week. But I guess 1is what you would say?

And if I were saying this after the week, would I say:
"He said I'd get rejected if I didn't register by the end of the/last/that week."

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Not necessarily.

I have the feeling it depends on what you want to say? Can you please tell me when you'd say:

1) "They said that it is a stolen phone so he'll have to take it to the police station."
and
2) "They said that it was a stolen phone so he'd have to take it to the police station."

Please note that both statements were made before the phone was taken to the police station.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I can't tell you when I'd say one or the other of those. I could easily say either.

But can both be said before the phone was taken to the police station?

 

[Rover_KE]

I see you've asked for more opinions in WordReference Forums.

Fair enough. Let us know if you learn anything new from there.:roll:

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I see you've asked for more opinions in WordReference Forums.

Fair enough. Let us know if you learn anything new from there.:roll:

Yeah. Was feeling like I was bothering you guys with this question over and over again. But to my surprise the answers I've gotten are somewhat different :-?

Haven't checked it in two days though. I'll let you guys know what I learn there.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yeah. Was feeling like I was bothering you [delete guys] with this question over and over again. . . .

I just read through this thread. Yes, you were repeating yourself. The answers you got were fine.

PS — Careful! We're not all guys!

 

[emsr2d2]

... to my surprise the answers I've gotten are somewhat different

Get used to that. There are some things on which native speakers simply don't agree, and that's because of differences in usage between different variants and even different regions. Also, sometimes there isn't one single right answer or just one way of saying something.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I just read through this thread. Yes, you were repeating yourself. The answers you got were fine.

PS — Careful! We're not all guys!

Okay I think I remember posting about this. And the conclusion was that 'guys' is gender neutral when used this way.

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/588df7e0-9eec-4b14-a715-f2d9ab2a3565

 

[GoesStation]

It sounds masculine to me.

 

[GoesStation]

PS — Careful! We're not all guys!

You're a girl named Charlie? I'm taken aback! But then again I'm not American.

Charlie didn't say or imply that he's female. He said that not all of us are guys.