Matrix Verb/ Past + Subordinate Verb/ Present

Sssamy   Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:39 pm GMT
If you said 'I doubted if he "is" pig-headed,' or 'I doubted whether he "is" pig-headed,' could this mean at the time of doubting you didn't believe it was true, but now you do? Or, are these sentences not idiomatic?
Billy   Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:34 pm GMT
I wouldnt't say anything of the sort. I'd say "I doubted that she was pig headed"

Doubted is in the past tense, so you need to use "was".
@Sssamy   Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:36 pm GMT
You can say:

"At the time I doubted whether he was as pig-headed as everybody said; but now I know he is."
Another Guest   Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:20 am GMT
Teachnically, "I doubted if he is pig-headed" means "my doubting depended on him being pig-headed". Here's a test to see whether a sentence of the form "A if B" is a correct use of "if": would "not B if not A" be a correct and valid statement? If not, then your original statement is not correct. Since you can't say "He is not pig-headed if I didn't doubt", "if" is not correct.

I don't think that "whether" is quite correct here, either. Instead, it should be "I doubted that he is pig-headed". The use of the past tense would also be correct; one can either speak of a doubt one had about something being true in the past, or the doubt one has about an ongoing claim.
Sssamy   Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:40 am GMT
[Here's a test to see whether a sentence of the form "A if B" is a correct use of "if": would "not B if not A" be a correct and valid statement?]

Does this only apply to the " ... doubt if ... " construction? Or, does it also apply to any other " ... if ... " construction?

Thanks.
@Sss   Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:34 am GMT
"To doubt whether something is the case" is fine here.

"if we had met first in the drawing-room, I doubt whether you would have discerned me to be more of a gentleman than usual." - Jane Austen

etc.