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  1. “he told me he was going for a breakfast at the restaurant because he believes they make good pancakes”

  2. “he told me he was going for a breakfast at the restaurant because he believed the restaurant made good pancakes”

Which one should I use? I don’t have much context just this situation:

Mike says: “I am going for a breakfast because I believe the restaurant makes good pancakes”

Jane later reports: “he told me he was going for a breakfast at the restaurant because he believes they make good pancakes”

Or should Jane say the second sentence above with the past? Thanks.

Jasper
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    This question is very similar to this ONE which was already asked. I'd say both of your proposed sentences are correct. – Yuri Feb 05 '17 at 22:34
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    Tense backshifting in a reported speech is not obligatory if you think the statement is still true. – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini Feb 05 '17 at 22:54
  • @user178049 Backshifting sounds better in style even if the statement is still true. Besides, it is clear that he DECIDED to go there based on what he THOUGHT AT THE TIME (which happens to be the same he thinks now). – Gustavson Feb 06 '17 at 17:02

1 Answers1

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"go for a breakfast at the restaurant" is not idiomatic. Much better: "go to the restaurant for breakfast," or perhaps "go to have breakfast at the restaurant."

Everything should be in the past. His decision to have breakfast at that restaurant was based on his belief (at the time he made the decision) that the restaurant in question made good pancakes.

The correct sentence would then be:

2'. He told me he was going to the restaurant for breakfast because he believed they made good pancakes (there). (You should try and avoid the repetition of "restaurant".)

Gustavson
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  • Absolutely. This is reported speech. The present tense becomes a past tense, in this case, SIMPLE PAST. :) Also, you wrote the sentence idiomatically (go to the restaurant for breakfast). However, one could use the present also, it all depends on the actual situation. But here, I think past is better. Is there a lawyer in the house? – Lambie Feb 12 '17 at 17:50
  • @Lambie Thank you for being so, so supportive. When these things happen, I realize it was well worth devoting so much time and effort to learning the language. – Gustavson Feb 12 '17 at 17:55
  • I agree as well. Plus it is very frustrating to get those silent downvotes. – RichF Feb 12 '17 at 18:11
  • @RichF Thank you for being so understanding. I actually opened a thread at ELL Meta here: http://meta.ell.stackexchange.com/questions/3455/why-isnt-accounting-for-downvotes-mandatory-rather-than-just-recommended recently. – Gustavson Feb 12 '17 at 18:13