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Nabby Adams · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 215

I heard next week she would come to the office

Is this good English? I told a student that "would" should be "will" but as with all things grammatical, my confidence started to wane.

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

A little punctuation would be nice, but I see nothing wrong with using 'would' here as a past intention.
Actually, reading it again, a 'that' would be a good idea, especially when taking the aforementioned lack of punctuation into account.
My 2 cents.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

She will come next week. Future tense.

But if you use past tense to report this (I heard), you should change will to would.

tommchone · Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 108

I heard that she would come to the office next week.
I heard that next week she would come to the office.

I like the first one best.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Problem is the placing of 'next week'. With regard to 'would' or 'will' it depends on how much her return affects you. 'Will' suggests a greater importance or interest.

Nabby Adams · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 215

Sorry, the original sentence was;

I heard that you would come to Japan next month

I think it was the "you" that made me think it wasn't natural. What say the grammar police?

johnslat · Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:59 pm Post subject:

Dear Nabby Adams,

The sentence is perfectly correct. "Heard" - the main verb - demands the past in the noun clause.

The meaning would be that you are in Japan but that the person you're talking/writing to isn't (yet.)

You could also say/write:

"I heard that you were going to come to Japan next month."

although using the "future in the past" can create an ambiguity - it could be understood to mean that the trip was no longer scheduled.

"I hear you're going to come to Japan next month."

is also correct.

Regards,
John

winthorpe · Joined: 21 Oct 2009 Posts: 21

I agree with the correctness of some of the previous examples. I would vote for writing it like this:

I heard that you will come to Japan next month.

Your sentences become stronger when you omit the "to be" verbs: is, are, was and were.

strictly_nicky · Joined: 14 Apr 2009 Posts: 25

The original isnt so terribly bad as it is. May I suggest another possibility?

"I heard that she was coming to the office next week."

I dunno, with the verb "come" and the time adverbial "next week" I would prefer good ol' "Present Continuous as future", as in:

She's coming to the office next week.

Then with the reported "I heard", backshifted to "she was coming".

And the time adverbial at the end, after the place adverbial.

the_thinker · Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Posts: 68

Agree with stricktly_nicky ��the problem is the use of 'would', since the time phrase 'next week' suggests the visit is fixed now. So the original direct speech should probably be:

"She's coming to Japan next month."

Which can then change in reported speech to either:

"I heard she was coming to Japan next month."

or, as Stephen Jones say, if the event is more important or relevant to the speaker:

"I heard she's coming to Japan next month."

ytse43 · Joined: 19 Apr 2009 Posts: 10

Keep in mind the audience, meaning your students of course! Even though the same idea can be written in many ways in English, you ought to consider using a sentence that 1) the students most easily understand and 2) you can easily explain.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject:

Howzabout dis:

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck can chuck wood ? Laughing

...

...

NCTBA

johnslat · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject:

Dear NCTBA,

Not as much as it otter.

Regards,
John

DMcK · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 111 Location: Madrid

Hi Johnslat

Sorry to hijack a thread with something irrelevant but I'd like to ask you why you always write so formally in a forum. I mean no offence here but when I see the whole "dear x...regards x" thing in a forum, I can't help feeling the reply is condescending.

Just wondering, as I say no offence, Sir. Smile

johnslat · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 8:29 pm Post subject:

Dear DMcK,

Well, I certainly don't mean to be "condescending" - but perhaps, like beauty, that is in the eye of the beholder.

Perhaps it's because I grew up in a more "formal" age, having been born in 1943.
Perhaps it's because of my upbringing - my parents valued formality in correspondence, as did my teachers in parochial school.
Perhaps it's because I feel that courtesy and politeness are never out of place.
Or perhaps it's all of the above - and maybe more.

But let me assure you again - I have no intent whatsoever to be patronizing, and I'm sorry that my use of formal salutations stuck you that way.

Of course, I take no offense to your quite legitimate and interesting question.

Regards,
John