[Grammar] Would/will?

[azhu]

This is the original sentence: Ms. Adams just asked Ms. Chang: "Will you be in class tomorrow?"
If I'm to write this sentence without quotation marks, then which sentence I wrote down below is right? Why?
1. Ms. Adams wanted to know if Ms. Chang would be in class tomorrow.
2. Ms. Adams wanted to know if Ms. Chang will be in class tomorrow.


Thank you;-)

 

[5jj]

There is no full stop (period) after 'Ms' in British English. It's not an abbreviation.

Both are possible if the sentence is written on the day Ms Adams asked the question. If written the following day, it can be either of these two:

3. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang would be in class today.
4. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang will be in class today.

If written after that, it becomes:

5. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang would be in class the next/following day.

 

[Barb_D]

Ms. takes the period in the U.S. It corresponds to Mrs. and Mr. as a style thing.

 

[azhu]

There is no full stop (period) after 'Ms' in British English. It's not an abbreviation.

Both are possible if the sentence is written on the day Ms Adams asked the question. If written the following day, it can be either of these two:

3. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang would be in class today.
4. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang will be in class today.

If written after that, it becomes:

5. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang would be in class the next/following day.

Thank you very much.^_^

So, if the sentence is written on the same day Ms Adams asked the question, (3)and (4) are both OK, no difference; but if it's some time after that day, only (5) will do, right?

Just to make sure I'm understanding everything right.

 

[Barb_D]

More specifically, as long as it is said BEFORE class. It wouldn't work at 11 p.m. that night, after class, even though it was the same say. Otherewise, yes.

 

[BobK]

There is no full stop (period) after 'Ms' in British English. It's not an abbreviation.

Both are possible if the sentence is written on the day Ms Adams asked the question.
:up: But, as 5jj well knows, they mean different things....

5. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang would be in class the next/following day.

Note the change from 'tomorrow' to 'the next/the following day'. '1. Ms. Adams wanted to know if Ms. Chang would be in class tomorrow' works without this change only if the word 'tomorrow' still actually refers to the following day - that is, if the original conversation and the report are separated by no more than a few hours: 'Mrs B. rang while you were out. She wanted to know in you could stand in for her tomorrow.'

b

 

[BobK]

...
Both are possible if the sentence is written on the day Ms Adams asked the question.
:up: But, as 5jj well knows, they mean different things....

5. Ms Adams wanted to know if Ms Chang would be in class the next/following day.

Note the change from 'tomorrow' to 'the next/the following day'. '1. Ms. Adams wanted to know if Ms. Chang would be in class tomorrow' works without this change only if the word 'tomorrow' still actually refers to the following day - that is, if the original conversation and the report are separated by no more than a few hours: 'Mrs B. rang while you were out. She wanted to know if you could stand in for her tomorrow.' (5jj said this, but a bit too briefly for it to sink in; I have the attention-span of a fruit-fly - and I imagine some students may have missed this point too. ;-)

b

 

[azhu]

Note the change from 'tomorrow' to 'the next/the following day'. '1. Ms. Adams wanted to know if Ms. Chang would be in class tomorrow' works without this change only if the word 'tomorrow' still actually refers to the following day - that is, if the original conversation and the report are separated by no more than a few hours: 'Mrs B. rang while you were out. She wanted to know in you could stand in for her tomorrow.'

b

:-? I...don't quite understand. Aren't "tomorrow" and "the following day" the same meaning?

 

[charliedeut]

:-? I...don't quite understand. Aren't "tomorrow" and "the following day" the same meaning?

Hi,

They refer to the same day. But "tommorow" implies you are speaking from the present, that is "today", while "the following day" means you are talking from the future (two days/weeks/months later). So it is no longer "tomorrow" because you left it behind.

Greetings,

charliedeut

 

[Barb_D]

It depends on both when the speaker is in relation to that day now, and when it was spoken:

On Monday: Mrs. Adams asks, "Will you be in class tomorrow?"

Any time after that on Monday, you say "Mrs. Adams wanted to know if I'll be in class tomorrow. I wonder why?"

On Tuesday morning, you say "Mrs. Adams asked if I would be in class today. I wonder why?"
On Tuesday evening, you say "Mrs. Adams asked if I would be in class today... now I know why! I got a lovely gift from her!"

On Wednesday, you say "On Monday, Mrs. Adams asked if I would be in class yesterday. Now I know why."

On Thursday, you say "Earlier this week, Mrs. Adams asked if I would be in class the following day. That's odd. She knows I'm only there on Fridays."

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't wish to confuse the issue but have look at the following dialogue, which takes place on Monday:

John: Are you available for a meeting tomorrow?
Sarah: No, sorry, I'm busy all day.
John: OK, how about the following day? (or "How about the next day?")

John wants a meeting on Tuesday. That's not convenient for Sarah. John then suggests Wednesday. So "the following/next day" still means "tomorrow" but in the first sentence "tomorrow" is in relation to Monday and in the third sentence, it's in relation to Tuesday.

 

[BobK]

Great examples! :up:

b

 

[5jj]

So, if the sentence is written on the same day Ms Adams asked the question, (3)and (4) are both OK, no difference; but if it's some time after that day, only (5) will do, right?

Just to make sure I'm understanding everything right.

This is off-topic, but worth mentioning, I think. While 'understand' is one of those verbs denoting 'mental states' (as some books call them) which are normally not used in progressive forms, azhu's "I'm understanding" is fine here. Because of the idea of limited duration suggested by progressive forms, "I'm understanding" can suggest that the process of understanding is in its (limited) beginning stage, and/or that azhu is, perhaps subconsciously, thinking of the relevant coming-to-understand process as limited to the duration of the discussion in this thread. After that, azhu will be able to change, permanently, to 'I understand' - we hope!.