It says or it said?
Here is the real situation happened today. I wanted to describe an article that i read few days ago to my friend, which is about renewable energy whatsoever, unfortunately i got stuck at the very beginning in saying "the article says" or "the article said", personally i prefer the second one, cause i read it few days ago (past tense) and when i was talking to my friend i didn't show the article to him. But i also feel 'the article says' is reasonable, just a feeling about it though.

Can someone tell me which way right is?

Thank you sooooooo much!!

Question

It says or it said?
Here is the real situation happened today. I wanted to describe an article that i read few days ago to my friend, which is about renewable energy whatsoever, unfortunately i got stuck at the very beginning in saying "the article says" or "the article said", personally i prefer the second one, cause i read it few days ago (past tense) and when i was talking to my friend i didn't show the article to him. But i also feel 'the article says' is reasonable, just a feeling about it though.

Can someone tell me which way right is?

Thank you sooooooo much!!

Answer

You're instinct is correct.. in the situation you've described, 'the article said' does make more sense, although 'the article says' wouldn't be incorrect.. so it's understandable that you were unsure!

As you have alluded to, if you had the article with you and you were showing him, you would probably say, 'the article says'..

Answer

Generally when saying "The article said" means that you are referring to an article you had read and are referring to it almost in a past tense. While "the article says" sounds more explantive and that you are referring to an article you are currently reading or referring to in a more present tense.v

Answers · 3

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