embedded question

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

hi again

I’ve got a question about “embedded question”, I learnt it in school or with a private teacher long time ago but I don’t use it so much, my question is, does it need to use the same tense

For instance:

Where did you think I’m from?

or

Where did you think I was from?

I think the first one would be more logical as I’m still from somewhere, but never know, there are loads of tricks in English.

Cheers

2

“Where did you think I was from?” is better in grammar and thus more logical.

3

ok, it has come up by now, same tense needed , thanks

4

‘Where did you think I am from’ is not an embedded question and of course it has to be a past tense because it refers to your place of birth. [/b]

5

It’s past tense for consistency, not just because it refers to place of birth. It’s not necessarily true that it does that anyway. People often say they are from wherever they’ve been living for some time, too.

If I began in a different tense, it would be this:

Where do you think I’m from?

I would still possibly be referring to my birthplace, but the past tense would not be appropriate.

The situation would be different, though. The original question comes after you’ve already learned where I’m actually from.

6

While this point has some validity, it is largely irrelevant since the writer was asking about an embedded question which this is not.