Learn English – Which tense should be used

past-tensepresent-tense

I wonder which tense should be use in this case:

a) When Columbus arrived in America he thought he is in India.

b) When Columbus arrived in America he thought he was in India

I guess both are fine, or am I wrong?

Best Answer

Given that verbs "arrived" and "thought" are all clearly past tense, there is no reason to change the tense to present. Moreover, Columbus clearly cannot be doing anything in the present tense. As a result, "was" is the correct choice.

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