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He said he will attend the party held this weekend.

In the example sentence, the main verb said is in its past form and the verb 'will' in the subordinate clause is in its present form 'will' which is used as a modal verb for 'future'.

The mixing of tense is natural? or Could there be any different meaning between 'would' and 'will'?

gomadeng
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1 Answers1

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There is no problem here. The speaker has chosen not to backshift, presumably because the speaker believes "he will attend" still to be true, or at least still to be "his" intention.

You would backshift if you doubt if the statement "he will attend" is still true.

Is Joe going to the party?

Yes, he told me that he will attend.

Where's Joe?

I don't know. He told me that he would attend. But he's not here yet.

There is another alternative. It is possible that with "would" there is no backshifting, and the word "would" was used in its condition sense: "He would come if" or its habitual sense "He said he would go to parties every Saturday while at college".

You need to understand the context to know when "would" is a "future in the past" and when it indicates "conditional"

gomadeng
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James K
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  • What about this sentence: I said I would lend him some money. vs. I said I will lend him some money? – gomadeng May 28 '22 at 16:40
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    Rather different. The "would" there suggests condionality. I would lend some money if ... – James K May 28 '22 at 16:45
  • 'I said I will lend him some money.' is still valid if I apply your answer to this sentence? – gomadeng May 28 '22 at 16:48
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    That means that you said that, and you still intend to lend him money. "I said I will lend him some money, and I will do so when he tells me how much he needs." – James K May 28 '22 at 16:50
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    I think you are Good at English and it seems that you also have a good knowledge of English. – gomadeng May 28 '22 at 16:54