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As you said or as you say?
As you mentioned or as you mention?
As he described or as he describes?

Which are correct?
If I understand correctly, the formers are correct.

Why use past tense here?

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  • As you said or as you say? > As you said
  • As you mentioned or as you mention? > As you mentioned
  • As he described or as he describes? > As he described

When you are constructing a sentence such as the above, you must always use the verb in the past tense form. This is because we are usually talking about an event that has already happened.

  • As you said earlier, we should bring a packed lunch.
  • As he mentioned earlier in his speech, we all need to vote.

However, if, for example, the person in question was still saying/mentioning/describing the thing, then you could use the present form or the present continuous form:

  • As you are (currently) saying.
  • As you are (currently) mentioning.
  • As you are (currently) describing.

Furtherly, I feel that another situation in which it would be correct to use 'as you say' etc would be if you were talking about what someone does customarily. For example:

  • Aluminium, or as you say aluminum, is a highly malleable metal. In this case we are comparing someone's accent or spelling to that of the person who is speaking.
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    Thanks a lot ! ;D
    – Rick
    Sep 23, 2019 at 8:22
  • upvoted. "As you say" can also refer to an idiom ("As they say in French, c'est la vie!) or, as was (at least) hinted at in this answer, a regular saying: "As the Queen says, 'We are not amused.'"
    – michael
    Apr 29, 2020 at 1:12

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