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?
Matrix Verb/ Past + Subordinate Verb/ Present
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".
Doubted is in the past tense, so you need to use "was".
You can say:
"At the time I doubted whether he was as pig-headed as everybody said; but now I know he is."
"At the time I doubted whether he was as pig-headed as everybody said; but now I know he is."
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.
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.
[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.
Does this only apply to the " ... doubt if ... " construction? Or, does it also apply to any other " ... if ... " construction?
Thanks.
"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.
"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.