What do you think was his reply?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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What do you think was his reply?
What do you think his reply was?

Which is the correct sentence?

Thanks.

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Hi @Kohyoongliat,

Both are correct.

I hope I’ve been able to help you.

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Hi @Kohyoongliat

I reply again just to inform you that I would use the second one. It sound more natural than the first.

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What, do you think, was his reply?

Is the sentence correct?

Thanks.

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I think before we can answer this question satisfactorily we need to agree on what exactly a ‘correct sentence’ is.

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Thanks, Torsten.

To me, it means it is grammatical.

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Well, there are so many definitions of what a ‘grammatical sentence’ is so this discussion could on forever. So, the short answer to your initial question most likely is ‘yes’.

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  • That’s very true and as Andrea once said, sometimes we have to look outside the box. It’s impossible using the rules all the time. What I mean is trying to be extremely correct is totally impossible.

Yesterday, somebody asked me, not on the forum, if this construction was grammatically correct:

  • We’ve stood up for what we believed in. The man had difficulty understanding why the present perfect was used in the first part of the sentence and the past in the second part.
    Well, there is something like simplification of perfect verb forms and that’s why, but this grew over the centuries.

  • ‘We’ve stood up for what we’ve believed in.’ doesn’t sound natural.

I’ll give another example:

  • I’ve always liked the people I('ve) worked with. I’ve put ('ve) between brackets, because it’s the same as the first sentence.
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Most likely? Torsten the question is as you and I have said grammatically correct. Absolutely.
However, looking outside the box, the most important thing is: ‘Is the message clear?’ And if it’s clear, who cares about little grammar mistakes?

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