Sunday, December 28, 2014

Should we use past tense in "Lugo admitted he is the father"?



In this sentence, should the is be a was?




On April 13, 2009, Lugo admitted he is the father of a child conceived with Viviana Carrillo.



Answer





On April 13, 2009, Lugo admitted he is the father of a child conceived with Viviana Carrillo.




Boofus McGoofus got this right. I am just going to expand on his answer. The heuristic rule taught to ESL learners is that the past tense should be used for indirect quotations, as in




Lugo: "I admit I am the father of a child conceived with V.C."





Indirect quotation form:




On April 13, 2009, Lugo admitted he was the father of a child conceived with Viviana Carrillo.




But, this rule doesn't have to be applied in the case that the situation is still true, so is can be used. However, in a sentence like




On April 13, 1801, Lugo admitted he was the father of a child conceived with Viviana Carrillo.





"is" would be a little strange because both Lugo and his child are long since gone. So basically the heuristic rule can be broken in the case that the quoted fact is still true.


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